WORKS  BY 

Hnna  IRatbarine  (Srecn 


THE  LEAVENWORTH  CASK. 
A  STRANGE  DISAPPEARANCE. 
THE  SWORD  OF  DAMOCLES. 

HAND  AND  RING. 

THE  MILL  MYSTERY. 

BEHIND  CLOSED  DOORS. 

CYNTHIA  WAKEHAM'S  MONEY. 

MARKED  "PERSONAL." 
Miss  HURD  :  AN  ENIGMA. 

DR.  IZARD. 

THAT  AFFAIR  NEXT  DOOR. 
LOST  MAN'S  LANE. 

AGATHA  WEBB. 

THK  OLD  STONE  HOUSE. 

THE  DOCTOR,  His  WIFE,  AND  THE  CLOCK. 

X.  Y.  Z.     A  DETECTIVE  STORY. 

7  TO  12.     A  DETECTIVE  STORY. 

THE  DEFENCE  OF  THE  BRIDE. 
RISIFI'S  DAUGHTER.     A  DRAMA. 

G.  r.  PUT  NAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 


LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

A  SECOND  EPISODE  IN  THE   LIFE   OF 
AMELIA  BUTTERWORTH 


BY 

ANNA  KATHARINE  GREEN 
(MRS.  CHARLES  ROHLFS) 

Author  of  "  That  Affair  Next  Door,"  "  The  Leavenworth  Case," 
"The  Forsaken  Inn,"  etc. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 

Gbe  •Knickerbocker  press 

1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1898 

BY 

ANNA  KATHARINE  ROHLFS 
Entered  at  Stationers'   Hall,  London 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  March,  1898.     Reprinted  March,  1898  ; 
April,  1898;   July,  1898;   Aug.,  1898;   Oct.,  1898;   Aug.,  1899 


ttbe  Tfcnfcfcerbocber  ipreea,  flew  lt?orh 


To 
ELIZABETH   D.  SHEPARD 

COUSIN   AND    FRIEND 

THIS    BOOK 
IS    AFFECTIONATELY    INSCRIBED 


282053 


PREFACE 

A  WORD  to  my  readers  before  they  begin  these 
pages. 

As  a  woman  of  inborn  principle  and  strict  Presby 
terian  training,  I  hate  deception  and  cannot  abide 
subterfuge.  This  is  why,  after  a  year  or  more  of 
hesitation,  I  have  felt  myself  constrained  to  put  into 
words  the  true  history  of  the  events  surrounding  the 
solution  of  that  great  mystery  which  made  Lost 
Man's  Lane  the  dread  of  the  neighboring  country. 
Feminine  delicacy,  and  a  natural  shrinking  from  re 
vealing  to  the  world  certain  weaknesses  on  my  part, 
inseparable  from  a  true  relation  of  this  tale,  led  me 
to  consent  to  the  publication  of  that  meagre  and 
decidedly  falsified  account  of  the  matter  which  has 
appeared  in  some  of  our  leading  papers. 

But  conscience  has  regained  its  sway  in  my  breast, 
and  with  all  due  confidence  in  your  forbearance,  I 
herein  take  my  rightful  place  in  these  annals,  of 
whose  interest  and  importance  I  now  leave  you  to 
judge. 

AMELIA  BUTTERWORTH. 

GRAMERCY  PARK,  NEW  YORK. 


CONTENTS 

BOOK  I 
THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY 

PAGE 

I. — A    VISIT    FROM    MR.    GRYCE        ....  I 

II. 1    AM    TEMPTED 5 

III. 1    SUCCUMB       .  .  .  .  .  .21 

IV. A    GHOSTLY    INTERIOR 37 

V. — A    STRANGE    HOUSEHOLD            ....  45 

VI. A    SOMBRE    EVENING          .....  54 

VII. THE    FIRST    NIGHT               .....  60 

VIII. — ON    THE   STAIRS 69 

IX. A    NEW    ACQUAINTANCE              ....  74 

X. SECRET    INSTRUCTIONS    .....  85 

XI. MEN,    WOMEN,    AND    GHOSTS     ....  93 

XII. — THE    PHANTOM    COACH 108 

XIII. GOSSIP    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .119 

XIV. 1  FORGET  MY  AGE,  OR,  RATHER,  REMEMBER  IT       126 

vii 


VI 11  CONTENTS 

BOOK  II 
THE  FLOWER  PARLOR 

PAGE 

XV. LUCETTA    FULFILS    MY    EXPECTATION    OF 

HER            .            .                    ^  .            .            .  140 

XVI. LOREEN     .......  147 

XVII. THE    FLOWER    PARLOR       ....  158 

XVIII. — THE    SECOND    NIGHT  .  .  .  .170 

XIX. — A    KNOT  OF   CRAP^ 184 

XX. QUESTIONS      ' IQ2 

XXI. MOTHER    JANE             .....  IQ8 

XXII. THE    THIRD    NIGHT               ....  2O6 

BOOK  III 

FORWARD  AND  BACK 

XXIII. ROOM    3,  HOTEL    CARTER             .            .            .  2l8 

XXIV. THE    ENIGMA    OF    NUMBERS        .  .  .231 

XXV. — TRIFLES,    BUT    NOT    TRIFLING              .            .  244 

XXVI. A    POINT    GAINED      .            .            .            .            .  250 

XXVII.  — THE    TEXT    WITNESSETH  .            .            .            .  258 

XXVIII. — AN    INTRUSION             ...                         .  262 

XXIX. IN    THE    CELLAR 267 

XXX. — INVESTIGATION 273 


CONTENTS  IX 

PAGE 

XXXI. — STRATEGY          .                                                .            .      278 
XXXII. — RELIEF 290 


BOOK  IV 
THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR 

XXXIII. LUCETTA 295 

XXXIV. CONDITIONS      .                                                               .  316 

XXXV THE   DOVE 3«9 

XXXVI. AN    HOUR    OF  STARTLING    EXPERIENCES  326 

XXXVII. 1    ASTONISH    MR.    GRYCE    AND    HE   ASTON 
ISHES    ME 350 

XXXVIII. — A    FEW    WORDS            .                                                  .  356 

XXXIX. UNDER    A    CRIMSON    SKY  .                                      .  360 

XL. EXPLANATIONS           .                                                  .  375 

EPILOGUE              ....                                      .  384 


LOST  MAN'S  LANE 


BOOK  I 
THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY 

I 

A  VISIT   FROM    MR.    GRYCE 

since  my  fortunate — or  shall  I  say  unfor- 
[j  tunate  ? — connection  with  that  famous  case  of 
murder  in  Gramercy  Park,  I  have  had  it  intimated 
to  me  by  many  of  my  friends — and  by  some  who 
were  not  my  friends — that  no  woman  who  had  met 
with  such  success  as  myself  in  detective  work  would 
ever  be  satisfied  with  a  single  display  of  her  powers, 
and  that  sooner  or  later  I  would  find  myself  again  at 
work  upon  some  other  case  of  striking  peculiarities. 
As  vanity  has  never  been  my  foible,  and  as,  more 
over,  I  never  have  forsaken  and  never  am  likely  to 

i 


2      k  ^    ..     LQST  MAN'S  LANE 

forsake  the  plain  path  marked  out  for  my  sex,  at 
any  other  call  than  that  of  duty,  I  invariably  re 
sponded  to  these  insinuations  by  an  affable  but  in 
credulous  smile,  striving  to  excuse  the  presumption 
of  my  friends  by  remembering  their  ignorance  of  my 
nature  and  the  very  excellent  reasons  I  had  for  my 
one  notable  interference  in  the  police  affairs  of  New 
York  City. 

Besides,  though  I  appeared  to  be  resting  quietly, 
if  not  in  entire  contentment,  on  my  laurels,  I  was 
not  so  utterly  removed  from  the  old  atmosphere  of 
crime  and  its  detection  as  the  world  in  general  con 
sidered  me  to  be.  Mr.  Gryce  still  visited  me;  not 
on  business,  of  course,  but  as  a  friend,  for  whom  I 
had  some  regard ;  and  naturally  our  conversation 
was  not  always  confined  to  the  weather  or  even  to 
city  politics,  provocative  as  the  latter  subject  is  of 
wholesome  controversy. 

Not  that  he  ever  betrayed  any  of  the  secrets  of  his 
office — oh  no;  that  would  have  been  too  much  to 
expect — but  he  did  sometimes  mention  the  outward 
aspects  of  some  celebrated  case,  and  though  I  never 
ventured  upon  advice — I  know  too  much  for  that,  I 
hope — I  found  my  wits  more  or  less  exercised  by  a 
conversation  in  which  he  gained  much  without  ac 
knowledging  it,  and  I  gave  much  without  appearing 
conscious  of  the  fact. 

I  was  therefore  finding  life  pleasant  and  full  of  in 
terest,  when  suddenly  (I  had  no  right  to  expect  it, 


THE   K NOLLYS  FAMILY  3 

and  I  do  not  blame  myself  for  not  expecting  it  or 
for  holding  my  head  so  high  at  the  prognostications 
of  my  friends)  an  opportunity  came  for  a  direct  ex 
ercise  of  my  detective  powers  in  a  line  seemingly  so 
laid  out  for  me  by  Providence  that  I  felt  I  would 
be  slighting  the  Powers  above  if  I  refused  to  enter 
upon  it,  though  now  I  see  that  the  line  was  laid  out 
for  me  by  Mr.  Gryce,  and  that  I  was  obeying  any 
thing  but  the  call  of  duty  in  following  it. 

But  this  is  not  explicit.  One  night  Mr.  Gryce 
came  to  my  house  looking  older  and  more  feeble 
than  usual.  He  was  engaged  in  a  perplexing  case, 
he  said,  and  missed  his  early  vigor  and  persistency. 
Would  I  like  to  hear  about  it  ?  It  was  not  in  the 
line  of  his  usual  work,  yet  it  had  points — and  well! 
— it  would  do  him  good  to  talk  about  it  to  a  non- 
professional  who  was  capable  of  sympathizing  with 
its  baffling  and  worrisome  features  and  yet  would 
never  have  to  be  told  to  hold  her  peace. 

I  ought  to  have  been  on  my  guard.  I  ought  to 
have  known  the  old  fox  well  enough  to  feel  certain 
that  when  he  went  so  manifestly  out  of  his  way  to 
take  me  into  his  confidence  he  did  it  for  a  purpose. 
But  Jove  nods  now  and  then — or  so  I  have  been  as 
sured  on  unimpeachable  authority, — and  if  Jove  has 
ever  been  caught  napping,  surely  Amelia  Butter- 
worth  may  be  pardoned  a  like  inconsistency. 

"  It  is  not  a  city  crime,"  Mr.  Gryce  went  on  to 
explain,  and  here  he  was  base  enough  to  sigh.  "At 


4  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

my  time  of  life  this  is  an  important  consideration. 
It  is  no  longer  a  simple  matter  for  me  to  pack  up  a 
valise  and  go  off  to  some  distant  village,  way  up  in 
the  mountains  perhaps,  where  comforts  are  few  and 
secrecy  an  impossibility.  Comforts  have  become 
indispensable  to  my  threescore  years  and  ten,  and 
secrecy — well,  if  ever  there  was  an  affair  where  one 
needs  to  go  softly,  it  is  this  one;  as  you  will  see  if 
you  will  allow  me  to  give  you  the  facts  of  the  case 
as  known  at  Headquarters  to-day." 

I  bowed,  trying  not  to  show  my  surprise  or  my 
extreme  satisfaction.  Mr.  Gryce  assumed  his  most 
benignant  aspect  (always  a  dangerous  one  with  him), 
and  began  his  story. 


II 

I  AM   TEMPTED 

SOME  ninety  miles  from  here,  in  a  more  or  less 
inaccessible  region,  there  is  a  small  but  in 
teresting  village,  which  has  been  the  scene  of  so  many 
unaccountable  disappearances  that  the  attention  of 
the  New  York  police  has  at  last  been  directed  to  it. 
The  village,  which  is  at  least  two  miles  from  any 
railroad,  is  one  of  those  quiet,  placid  little  spots 
found  now  and  then  among  the  mountains,  where 
life  is  simple,  and  crime,  to  all  appearance,  an  ele 
ment  so  out  of  accord  with  every  other  characteristic 
of  the  place  as  to  seem  a  complete  anomaly.  Yet 
crime,  or  some  other  hideous  mystery  almost  equally 
revolting,  has  during  the  last  five  years  been  ac 
countable  for  the  disappearance  in  or  about  this  vil 
lage  of  four  persons  of  various  ages  and  occupations. 
Of  these,  three  were  strangers  and  one  a  well-known 
vagabond  accustomed  to  tramp  the  hills  and  live  on 
the  bounty  of  farmers'  wives.  All  were  of  the  male 
sex,  and  in  no  case  has  any  clue  ever  come  to  light 
as  to  their  fate.  That  is  the  matter  as  it  stands 
before  the  police  to-day." 

5 


6  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

6t  A  serious  affair,"  I  remarked.  "  Seems  to  me 
I  have  read  of  such  things  in  novels.  Is  there  a 
tumbled-down  old  inn  in  the  vicinity  where  beds  are 
made  up  over  trap-doors  ?  " 

His  smile  was  a  mild  protest  against  my  flippancy. 

"I  have  visited  the  town  myself.  There  is  no 
inn  there,  but  a  comfortable  hotel  of  the  most 
matter-of-fact  sort,  kept  by  the  frankest  and  most 
open-minded  of  landlords.  Besides,  these  disap 
pearances,  as  a  rule,  did  not  take  place  at  night,  but 
in  broad  daylight.  Imagine  this  street  at  noon.  It 
is  a  short  one,  and  you  know  every  house  on  it,  and 
you  think  you  know  every  lurking-place.  You  see 
a  man  enter  it  at  one  end  and  you  expect  him  to 
issue  from  it  at  the  other.  But  suppose  he  never 
does.  Moi*e  than  that,  suppose  he  is  never  heard  of 
again,  and  that  this  thing  should  happen  in  this 
one  street  four  times  during  five  years." 
"  I  should  move,"  I  dryly  responded. 

Would  you  ?  Many  good  people  have  moved 
from  the  place  I  speak  of,  but  that  has  not  helped 
matters.  The  disappearances  go  on  just  the  same 
and  the  mystery  continues." 

'  You  interest  me,"  I  said.  "  Come  to  think  of 
it,  if  this  street  were  the  scene  of  such  an  unex 
plained  series  of  horrors  as  you  have  described,  I  do 
not  think  I  should  move." 

"  I  thought  not,"  he  curtly  rejoined.  "  But  since 
you  are  interested  in  this  matter,  let  me  be  more 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  *J 

explicit  in  my  statements.     The  first  person  whose 
disappearance  was  noted— 

"  Wait,"  I  interrupted.  "  Have  you  a  map  of 
the  place?" 

He  smiled,  nodded  quite  affectionately  to  a  little 
statuette  on  the  mantel-piece,  which  had  had  the 
honor  of  sharing  his  confidences  in  days  gone  by, 
but  did  not  produce  the  map. 

'  That  detail  will  keep,"  said  he.  '  Let  me  go 
on  with  my  story.  As  I  was  saying,  madam,  the 
first  person  whose  disappearance  was  noted  in  this 
place  was  a  peddler  of  small  wares,  accustomed  to 
tramp  the  mountains.  On  this  occasion  he  had  been 
in  town  longer  than  usual,  and  was  known  to  have 
sold  fully  half  of  his  goods.  Consequently  he  must 
have  had  quite  a  sum  of  money  upon  him.  One 
day  his  pack  was  found  lying  under  a  cluster  of 
bushes  in  a  wood,  but  of  him  nothing  was  ever  again 
heard.  It  made  an  excitement  for  a  few  days  while 
the  woods  were  being  searched  for  his  body,  but, 
nothing  having  been  discovered,  he  was  forgotten, 
and  everything  went  on  as  before,  till  suddenly 
public  attention  was  again  aroused  by  the  pouring 
in  of  letters  containing  inquiries  in  regard  to  a 
young  man  who  had  been  sent  there  from  Duluth 
to  collect  facts  in  a  law  case,  and  who  after  a  certain 
date  had  failed  to  communicate  with  his  firm  or 
show  up  at  any  of  the  places  where  he  was  known. 
Instantly  the  village  was  in  arms.  Many  remem- 


8  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

bered  the  young  man,  and  some  two  or  three  of  the 
villagers  could  recall  the  fact  of  having  seen  him  go 
up  the  street  with  his  hand-bag  in  his  hand  as  if  on 
his  way  to  the  Mountain-station.  The  landlord  of 
the  hotel  could  fix  the  very  day  at  which  he  left  his 
house,  but  inquiries  at  the  station  failed  to  establish 
the  fact  that  he  took  train  from  there,  nor  were  the 
most  minute  inquiries  into  his  fate  ever  attended  by 
the  least  result.  He  was  not  known  to  have  carried 
.nuch  money,  but  he  carried  a  very  handsome  watch 
and  wore  a  ring  of  more  than  ordinary  value,  neither 
of  which  has  ever  shown  up  at  any  pawnbroker's 
known  to  the  police.  This  was  three  years  ago. 

'  The  next  occurrence  of  a  like  character  did  not 
take  place  till  a  year  after.  This  time  it  was  a  poor 
old  man  from  Hartford,  who  vanished  almost  as  it 
were  before  the  eyes  of  these  astounded  villagers. 
He  had  come  to  town  to  get  subscriptions  for  a 
valuable  book  issued  by  a  well-known  publisher. 
He  had  been  more  or  less  successful,  and  was  look 
ing  very  cheerful  and  contented,  when  one  morning, 
after  making  a  sale  at  a  certain  farmhouse,  he  sat 
down  to  dine  with  the  family,  it  being  close  on  to 
noon.  He  had  eaten  several  mouthfuls  and  was 
chatting  quite  freely,  when  suddenly  they  saw  him 
pause,  clap  his  hand  to  his  pocket,  and  rise  up  very 
much  disturbed.  '  I  have  left  my  pocket-book  be 
hind  me  at  Deacon  Spear's/  he  cried.  '  I  cannot 
eat  with  it  out  of  my  possession.  Excuse  me  if  I 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY.  9 

go  for  it.'  And  without  any  further  apologies,  he 
ran  out  of  the  house  and  down  the  road  in  the 
direction  of  Deacon  Spear's.  He  never  reached 
Deacon  Spear's,  nor  was  he  ever  seen  in  that  village 
again  or  in  his  home  in  Hartford.  This  was  the 
most  astonishing  mystery  of  all.  Within  a  half- 
mile's  radius,  in  a  populous  country  town,  this  man 
disappeared  as  if  the  road  had  swallowed  him  and 
closed  again.  It  was  marvellous,  it  was  incredible, 
and  remained  so  even  after  the  best  efforts  of  the 
country  police  to  solve  the  mystery  had  exhausted 
themselves.  After  this,  the  town  began  to  acquire 
a  bad  name,  and  one  or  two  families  moved  away. 
Yet  no  one  was  found  who  was  willing  to  admit  that 
these  various  persons  had  been  the  victims  of  foul 
play  till  a  month  later  another  case  came  to  light  of 
a  young  man  who  had  left  the  village  for  the  hillside 
station,  and  had  never  arrived  at  that  or  any  other 
destination  so  far  as  could  be  learned.  As  he  was  a 
distant  relative  of  a  wealthy  cattle  owner  in  Iowa, 
who  came  on  post-haste  to  inquire  into  his  nephew's 
fate,  the  excitement  ran  high,  and  through  his 
efforts  and  that  of  one  of  the  town's  leading  citi 
zens,  the  services  of  our  office  were  called  into  play. 
But  the  result  has  been  nil.  We  have  found  neither 
the  bodies  of  these  men  nor  any  clue  to  their 
fate." 

"  Yet  you  have  been  there  ?  "  I  suggested. 

He  nodded. 


IO  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  "Wonderful!     And  you  came  upon  no  suspicious 
house,  no  suspicious  person  ?  " 

The  finger  with  which  he  was  rubbing  his  eye 
glasses  went  round  and  round  the  rims  with  a  slower 
and  slower  and  stili  more  thoughtful  motion. 

Every  town  has  its  suspicious-looking  houses," 
he  slowly  remarked,  "  and,  as  for  persons,  the  most 
honest  often  wear  a  lowering  look  in  which  an  un 
bridled  imagination  can  see  guilt.  I  never  trust  to 
appearances  of  that  kind." 

'  What  else  can  you  trust  in,  when  a  case  is  as 
impenetrable  as  this  one  ?  "  I  asked. 

His  finger,  going  slower  and  slower,  suddenly 
stopped. 

In  my  knowledge  of  persons,"  he  replied.  '  In 
my  knowledge  of  their  fears,  their  hopes,  and  their 
individual  concerns.  If  I  were  twenty  years  young 
er  " — here  he  stole  a  glance  at  me  in  the  mirror 
which  made  me  bridle;  did  he  think  I  was  only 
twenty  years  younger  than  himself  ? — "  I  would," 
he  went  on,  "  make  myself  so  acquainted  with  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  there,  that —  '  Here  he  drew 
himself  up  with  a  jerk.  ;<  But  the  day  for  that  is 
passed,"  said  he.  ;<  I  am  too  old  and  too  crippled 
to  succeed  in  such  an  undertaking.  Having  been 
there  once,  I  am  a  marked  man.  My  very  walk 
betrays  me.  He  whose  good  fortune  it  will  be  to 
get  at  the  bottom  of  these  people's  hearts  must 
awaken  no  suspicions  as  to  his  connection  with  the 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  II 

police.     Indeed,  I  do  not  think  that  any  man  can 
succeed  in  doing  this  now." 

I  started.  This  was  a  frank  showing  of  his  hand 
at  least.  No  man!  It  was  then  a  woman's  aid  he 
was  after.  I  laughed  as  I  thought  of  it.  I  had  not 
thought  him  either  so  presumptuous  or  so  apprecia 
tive  of  talents  of  a  character  so  directly  in  line  with 
his  own. 

Don't  you  agree  with  me,  madam  ?  " 

I  did  agree  with  him ;  but  I  had  a  character  of 
great  dignity  to  maintain,  so  I  simply  surveyed  him 
with  an  air  of  well-tempered  severity. 

"  I  do  not  know  of  any  woman  who  would  under 
take  such  a  task,"  I  calmly  observed. 

'  No  ?  "  he  smiled  with  that  air  of  forbearance 
which  is  so  exasperating  to  me.  '  Well,  perhaps 
there  is  n't  any  such  woman  to  be  found.  It  would 
take  one  of  very  uncommon  characteristics,  I  own." 

"  Pish!  V  I  cried.     "  Not  so  very!  " 

Indeed,  I  think  you  have  not  fully  taken  in  the 
case,"  he  urged  in  quiet  superiority.  '  The  people 
there  are  of  the  higher  order  of  country  folk. 
Many  of  them  are  of  extreme  refinement.  One 
family  " — here  his  tone  changed  a  trifle—"  is  poor 
enough  and  cultivated  enough  to  interest  even  such 
a  woman  as  yourself." 

"  Indeed!  "  I  ejaculated,  with  just  a  touch  of  my 
father's  hauteur  to  hide  the  stir  of  curiosity  his 
words  naturally  evoked. 


12  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

It  is  in  some  such  home,"  he  continued  with  an 
ease  that  should  have  warned  me  he  had  started  on 
this  pursuit  with  a  quiet  determination  to  win, 

that  the  clue  will  be  found  to  the  mystery  we  are 
considering.  Yes,  you  may  well  look  startled,  but 
that  conclusion  is  the  one  thing  I  brought  away  with 
me  from — X.,  let  us  say.  I  regard  it  as  one  of  some 
moment.  What  do  you  think  of  it  ?  " 

Well,"  I  admitted,  "  it  makes  me  feel  like  re 
calling  that  pish  I  uttered  a  few  minutes  ago.  It 
would  take  a  woman  of  uncommon  characteristics  to 
assist  you  in  this  matter." 

'''  I  am  glad  we  have  got  that  far,"  said  he. 

"  A  lady,"  I  went  on. 

;<  Most  assuredly  a  lady." 

I  paused.  Sometimes  discreet  silence  is  more  sar 
castic  than  speech. 

'  Well,  what  lady  would  lend  herself  to  this 
scheme?"  I  demanded  at  last. 

The  tap,  tap  of  his  fingers  on  the  rim  of  his  glasses 
was  my  only  answer. 

'  I  do  not  know  of  any,"  said  I. 

His  eyebrows  rose  perhaps  a  hair's-breadth,  but  I 
noted  the  implied  sarcasm,  and  for  an  instant  forgot 
my  dignity. 

Now,"  said  I,  "  this  will  not  do.  You  mean 
me,  Amelia  Butterworth ;  a  woman  who — but  I  do 
not  think  it  is  necessary  to  tell  you  either  who  or 
what  I  am.  You  have  presumed,  sir —  Now  do  not 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  13 

put  on  that  look  of  innocence,  and  above  all  do  not 
attempt  to  deny  what  is  so  manifestly  in  your 
thoughts,  for  that  would  make  me  feel  like  showing 
you  the  door." 

'  Then,"  he  smiled,  "  I  shall  be  sure  to  deny 
nothing.  I  am  not  anxious  to  leave — yet.  Besides, 
whom  could  I  mean  but  you  ?  A  lady  visiting  friends 
in  this  remote  and  beautiful  region — what  oppor 
tunities  might  she  not  have  to  probe  this  important 
mystery  if,  like  yourself,  she  had  tact,  discretion, 
excellent  understanding,  and  an  experience  which 
if  not  broad  or  deep  is  certainly  such  as  to  give  her 
a  certain  confidence  in  herself,  and  an  undoubted 
influence  with  the  man  fortunate  enough  to  receive 
her  advice." 

Bah!  "  I  exclaimed.  It -was  one  of  his  favorite 
expressions.  That  was  perhaps  why  I  used  it. 
"  One  would  think  I  was  a  member  of  your  police." 

'  You  flatter  us  too  deeply,"  was  his  deferential 
answer.  "  Such  an  honor  as  that  would  be  beyond 
our  deserts." 

To  this  I  gave  but  the  faintest  sniff.  That  he 
should  think  that  I,  Amelia  Buucrworth,  could  be 
amenable  to  such  barefaced  flattery!  Then  I  faced 
him  with  some  asperity,  and  said  bluntly:  "  You 
waste  your  time.  I  have  no  more  intention  of 
meddling  in  another  affair  than— 

'  You  had  in  meddling  in  the  first,"  he  politely, 
too  politely,  interpolated.  "  I  understand,  madam." 


14  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  was  angry,  but  made  no  show  of  being  so.  I 
was  not  willing  he  should  see  that  I  could  be  affected 
by  anything  he  could  say. 

'  The  Van  Burnams  are  my  next-door  neighbors," 
I  remarked  sweetly.  ;<  I  had  the  best  of  excuses 
for  the  interest  I  took  in  their  affairs." 

"  So  you  had,"  he  acquiesced.  "  I  am  glad  to 
be  reminded  of  the  fact.  I  wonder  I  was  able  to 
forget  it." 

Angry  now  to  the  point  of  not  being  able  to 
hide  it,  I  turned  upon  him  with  firm  determina 
tion. 

"  Let  us  talk  of  something  else,"  I  said. 

But  he  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  Drawing  a 
folded  paper  from  his  pocket,  he  opened  it  out  be 
fore  my  eyes,  observing  quite  naturally:  "  That  is 
a  happy  thought.  Let  us  look  over  this  sketch  you 
were  sharp  enough  to  ask  for  a  few  moments  ago. 
It  shows  the  streets  of  the  village  and  the  places 
where  each  of  the  persons  I  have  mentioned  was 
last  seen.  Is  not  that  what  you  wanted  ?  " 

I  know  that  I  should  have  drawn  back  with  a  frown, 
that  I  never  should  have  allowed  myself  the  satisfac 
tion  of  casting  so  much  as  a  glance  toward  the 
paper,  but  the  human  nature  which  links  me  to  my 
kind  was  too  much  for  me,  and  with  an  involuntary 
"  Exactly!  "  I  leaned  over  it  with  an  eagerness  I 
strove  hard,  even  at  that  exciting  moment,  to  keep 
within  the  bounds  I  thought  proper  to  my  position 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY 


as  a  non-professional,  interested  in  the  matter  from 
curiosity  alone. 

This  is  what  I  saw : 


"  Mr.  Gryce,"  said  I,  after  a  few  minutes'  close 
contemplation  of  this  diagram,  I  do  not  suppose 
you  want  any  opinion  from  me/' 

"  Madam,"  he  retorted,  "  it  is  all  you  have  left 
me  free  to  ask  for." 

Receiving  this  as  a  permission  to  speak,  I  put  my 
finger  on  the  road  marked  with  a  cross. 

'  Then,"  said  I,  "  so  far  as  I  can  gather  from  this 
drawing,  all  the  disappearances  seem  to  have  taken 
place  in  or  about  this  especial  road." 

'  You  are  as  correct  as  usual,"  he  returned. 
"  What  you  have  said  is  so  true,  that  the  people  of 
the  vicinity  have  already  given  to  this  winding  way  a 
special  cognomen  of  its  own.  For  two  years  now  it 
has  been  called  Lost  Man's  Lane." 


1 6  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"Indeed!"  I  cried.  '  They  have  got  the  matter 
down  as  close  as  that,  and  yet  have  not  solved  its 
mystery  ?  How  long  is  this  road  ?  " 

"  A  half  mile  or  so." 

I  must  have  looked  my  disgust,  for  his  hands 
opened  deprecatingly. 

"  The  ground  has  undergone  a  thorough  search," 
said  he.  "  Not  a  square  foot  in  those  woods  you 
see  on  either  side  of  the  road,  but  has  been  carefully 
examined." 

"  And  the  houses  ?  I  see  there  are  three  houses 
on  this  road." 

"  Oh,  they  are  owned  by  most  respectable  people 
— most  respectable  people,"  he  repeated,  with  a 
lingering  emphasis  that  gave  me  an  inward  shud 
der.  "  I  think  I  had  the  honor  of  intimating  as 
much  to  you  a  few  minutes  ago." 

I  looked  at  him  earnestly,  and  irresistibly  drew  a 
little  nearer  to  him  over  the  diagram. 

'  Have  none  of  these  houses  been  visited  by 
you  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Do  you  mean  to  say  you  have 
not  seen  the  inside  of  them  all  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  he  replied,  "  I  have  been  in  them  all,  of 
course ;  but  a  mystery  such  as  we  are  investigating 
is  not  written  upon  the  walls  of  parlors  or  halls." 

"  You  freeze  my  blood,"  was  my  uncharacteristic 
rejoinder.  Somehow  the  sight  of  the  homes  indi 
cated  on  this  diagram  seemed  to  bring  me  into  more 
intimate  sympathy  with  the  affair. 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  I? 

His  shrug  was  significant. 

I  told  you  that  this  was  no  vulgar  mystery,"  he 
declared;  "  or  why  should  I  be  considering  it  with 
you  f  It  is  quite  worthy  of  your  interest.  Do  you 
see  that  house  marked  A  ?  " 

"  I  do,"  I  nodded. 

'  Well,  that  is  a  decayed  mansion  of  imposing 
proportions,  set  in  a  forest  of  overgrown  shrubbery. 
The  ladies  who  inhabit  it — 

"  Ladies!  "  I  put  in,  with  a  small  shock  of  horror. 

'  Young  ladies,"  he  explained,  "  of  a  refined  if 
not  over-prosperous  appearance.  They  are  the  in 
teresting  residue  of  a  family  of  some  repute.  Their 
father  was  a  judge,  I  believe." 

"  And  do  they  live  there  alone,"  I  asked,—  "  two 
young  ladies  in  a  house  so  large  and  in  a  neighbor 
hood  so  full  of  mystery  ?  " 

"  Oh,  they  have  a  brother  with  them,  a  lout  of  no 
great  attractions,"  he  responded  carelessly — too 
carelessly,  I  thought. 

I  made  a  note  of  the  house  A  in  my  mind. 

"  And  who  lives  in  the  house  marked  B  ? "  I  now 
queried. 

"  A  Mr.  Trohm.  You  will  remember  that  it  was 
through  his  exertions  the  services  of  the  New  York 
police  were  secured.  His  place  there  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  in  town,  and  he  does  not  wish  to 
be  forced  to  leave  it,  but  he  will  be  obliged  to  do  so 
if  the  road  is  not  soon  relieved  of  its  bad  name;  and 


1 8  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

so  will  Deacon  Spear.     The  very  children  shun  the 
road  now.     I  do  not  know  of  a  lonelier  place." 

"  I  see  a  little  mark  made  here  on  the  verge  of  the 
woods.  What  does  that  mean  ?  " 

'  That  stands  for  a  hut — it  can  hardly  be  called  a 
cottage — where  a  poor  old  woman  lives  called  Mother 
Jane.  She  is  a  harmless  imbecile,  against  whom  no 
one  has  ever  directed  a  suspicion.  You  may  take 
your  ringer  off  that  mark,  Miss  Butterworth." 

I  did  so,  but  I  did  not  forget  that  it  stood  very 
near  the  footpath  branching  off  to  the  station. 

'  You  entered  this  hut  as  well  as  the  big  houses  ?  " 
I  intimated. 

"And  found,"  was  his  answer,  "four  walls; 
nothing  more." 

I  let  my  ringer  travel  along  the  footpath  I  have 
just  mentioned. 

"  Steep,"  was  his  comment.  '  Up,  up,  all  the 
way,  but  no  precipices.  Nothing  but  pine  woods 
on  either  side,  thickly  carpeted  with  needles." 

My  finger  came  back  and  stopped  at  the  house 
marked  M. 

'  Why  is  a  letter  affixed  to  this  spot  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Because  it  stands  at  the  head  of  the  lane.  Any 
one  sitting  at  the  window  L  can  see  whoever  enters 
or  leaves  the  lane  at  this  end.  And  some  one  is 
always  sitting  there.  The  house  contains  two  crip 
pled  children,  a  boy  and  a  girl.  One  of  them  is 
always  in  that  window." 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  19 

"  I  see,"  said  I.  Then  abruptly  :  "  What  do  you 
think  of  Deacon  Spear  ?  " 

"  Oh,  he  's  a  well-meaning  man,  none  too  fine  in 
his  feelings.  He  does  not  mind  the  neighborhood  ; 
likes  quiet,  he  says.  I  hope  you  will  know  him  for 
yourself  some  day,"  the  detective  slyly  added. 

At  this  return  to  the  forbidden  subject,  I  held 
myself  very  much  aloof. 

'  Your  diagram  is  interesting,"  I  remarked,  "  but 
it  has  not  in  the  least  changed  my  determination. 
It  is  you  who  will  return  to  X.,  and  that,  very  soon." 

"  Very  soon  ?"  he  repeated.  '  Whoever  goes 
there  on  this  errand  must  go  at  once;  to-night,  if 
possible;  if  not,  to-morrow  at  the  latest." 

'  To-night!  to-morrow!  "  I  expostulated.  "And 
you  thought— 

"  No  matter  what  I  thought,"  he  sighed.  '  It 
seems  I  had  no  reason  for  my  hopes."  And  folding 
up  the  map,  he  slowly  rose.  '  The  young  man  we 
have  left  there  is  doing  more  harm  than  good. 
That  is  why  I  say  that  some  one  of  real  ability  must 
replace  him  immediately.  The  detective  from  New 
York  must  seem  to  have  left  the  place." 

I  made  him  my  most  ladylike  bow  of  dismissal. 

"  I  shall  watch  the  papers,"  I  said.  '  I  have  no 
doubt  that  I  shall  soon  be  gratified  by  seeing  in 
them  some  token  of  your  success." 

He  cast  a  rueful  look  at  his  hands,  took  a  painful 
step  toward  the  door,  and  dolefully  shook  his  head. 


20  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  kept  my  silence  undisturbed. 

He  took  another  painful  step,  then  turned. 

By  the  way,"  he  remarked,  as  I  stood  watching 
him  with  an  uncompromising  air,  "  I  have  forgotten 
to  mention  the  name  of  the  town  in  which  these 
disappearances  have  occurred.  It  is  called  X.,  and 
it  is  to  be  found  on  one  of  the  spurs  of  the  Berk 
shire  Hills."  And,  being  by  this  time  at  the  door, 
he  bowed  himself  out  with  all  the  insinuating  suavity 
which  distinguishes  him  at  certain  critical  moments. 
The  old  fox  was  so  sure  of  his  triumph  that  he  did 
not  wait  to  witness  it.  He  knew — how,  it  is  easy 
enough  for  me  to  understand  now — that  X.  was  a 
place  I  had  often  threatened  to  visit.  The  family 
of  one  of  my  dearest  friends  lived  there,  the  children 
of  Althea  Knollys.  She  had  been  my  chum  at 
school,  and  when  she  died  I  had  promised  myself 
not  to  let  many  months  go  by  without  making  the 
acquaintance  of  her  children.  Alas!  I  had  allowed 
years  to  elapse. 


Ill 

I    SUCCUMB 

THAT  night  the  tempter  had  his  own  way  with 
me.  Without  much  difficulty  he  persuaded 
me  that  my  neglect  of  Althea  Burroughs'  children  was 
without  any  excuse ;  that  what  had  been  my  duty 
toward  them  when  I  knew  them  to  be  left  mother 
less  and  alone,  had  become  an  imperative  demand 
upon  me  now  that  the  town  in  which  they  lived  had 
become  overshadowed  by  a  mystery  which  could  not 
but  affect  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  all  its  in 
habitants.  I  could  not  wait  a  day.  I  recalled  all 
that  I  had  heard  of  poor  Althea's  short  and  none 
too  happy  marriage,  and  immediately  felt  such  a 
burning  desire  to  see  if  her  dainty  but  spirited 
beauty — how  well  I  remembered  it — had  been  re 
peated  in  her  daughters,  that  I  found  myself  pack 
ing  my  trunk  before  I  knew  it. 

I  had  not  been  from  home  for  a  long  time — all  the 
more  reason  why  I  should  have  a  change  now — and 
when  I  notified  Mrs.  Randolph  and  the  servants  of 
my  intention  of  leaving  on  the  early  morning  train, 
it  created  quite  a  sensation  in  the  house.  ' 


22  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

But  I  had  the  best  of  explanations  to  offer.  I 
had  been  thinking  of  my  dead  friend,  and  my  con 
science  would  not  let  me  neglect  her  dear  and  pos 
sibly  unhappy  progeny  any  longer.  I  had  purposed 
many  times  to  visit  X.,  and  now  I  was  going  to  do 
it.  When  I  come  to  a  decision,  it  is  usually  sud 
denly,  and  I  never  rest  after  having  once  made  up 
my  mind. 

My  sentiment  went  so  far  that  I  got  down  an  old 
album  and  began  hunting  up  the  pictures  I  had 
brought  away  with  me  from  boarding-school.  Hers 
was  among  them,  and  I  really  did  experience  more 
or  less  compunction  when  I  saw  again  the  delicate 
yet  daring  features  which  had  once  had  a  very  great 
influence  over  my  mind.  What  a  teasing  sprite  she 
was,  yet  what  a  will  she  had,  and  how  strange  it  was 
that,  having  been  so  intimate  as  girls,  we  never  knew 
anything  of  each  other  as  women  !  Had  it  been  her 
fault  or  mine  ?  Was  her  marriage  to  blame  for  it  or 
my  spinsterhood  ?  Difficult  to  tell  then,  impossible 
to  tell  now.  I  would  not  even  think  of  it  again,  save 
as  a  warning.  Nothing  must  stand  between  me  and 
her  children  now  that  my  attention  has  been  called 
to  them  again. 

I  did  not  mean  to  take  them  by  surprise — that  is, 
not  entirely.  The  invitation  which  they  had  sent 
me  years  ago  was  still  in  force,  making  it  simply 
necessary  for  me  to  telegraph  them  that  I  had  de 
cided  to  make  them  a  visit,  and  that  they  might 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  2$ 

expect  me  by  the  noon  train.  If  in  times  gone  by 
they  had  been  properly  instructed  by  their  mother 
in  regard  to  the  character  of  her  old  friend,  this 
need  not  put  them  out.  I  am  not  a  woman  of  un 
bounded  expectations.  I  do  not  look  for  the  com 
forts  abroad  I  am  accustomed  to  find  at  home,  and 
if,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe,  their  means  are  not 
of  the  greatest,  they  would  only  provoke  me  by  any 
show  of  effort  to  make  me  feel  at  home  in  the 
humble  cottage  suited  to  their  fortunes. 

So  the  telegram  was  sent,  and  my  preparations 
completed  for  an  early  departure. 

But,  resolved  as  I  was  to  make  this  visit,  my 
determination  came  near  receiving  a  check.  Just 
as  I  was  leaving  the  house — at  the  very  moment,  in 
fact,  when  the  hackman  was  carrying  out  my  trunk, 
I  perceived  a  man  approaching  me  with  every  evi 
dence  of  haste.  He  had  a  letter  in  his  hand,  which 
he  held  out  to  me  as  soon  as  he  came  within  reach. 

"  For  Miss  Butterworth,"  he  announced.  '  Pri 
vate  and  immediate." 

"  Ah,"  thought  I,  "  a  communication  from  Mr. 
Gryce,"  and  hesitated  for  a  moment  whether  to 
open  it  on  the  spot  or  to  wait  and  read  it  at  my 
leisure  on  the  cars.  The  latter  course  promised  me 
less  inconvenience  than  the  first,  for  my  hands  were 
cumbered  with  the  various  small  articles  I  consider 
indispensable  to  the  comfortable  enjoyment  of  the 
shortest  journey,  and  the  glasses  without  which  I 


24  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

cannot  read  a  word,  were  in  the  very  bottom  of  my 
pocket  under  many  other  equally  necessary  articles. 
But  something  in  the  man's  expectant  look 
warned  me  that  he  would  never  leave  me  till  I  had 
read  the  note,  so  with  a  sigh  I  called  Lena  to  my 
aid-,  and  after  several  vain  attempts  to  reach  my 
glasses,  succeeded  at  last  in  pulling  them  out,  and 
by  their  help  reading  the  following  hurried  lines: 

"  DEAR  MADAM: 

'  I  send  you  this  by  a  swifter  messenger  than  my 
self.  Do  not  let  anything  that  I  may  have  said  last 
night  influence  you  to  leave  your  comfortable  home. 
The  adventure  offers  too  many  dangers  for  a  woman. 
Read  the  inclosed.  G." 

1 

The  inclosed  was  a  telegram  from  X.,  sent  during 
the  night,  and  evidently  just  received  at  Headquar 
ters.  Its  contents  were  certainly  not  reassuring: 

"  Another  person  missing.  Last  seen  in  Lost 
Man's  Lane.  A  harmless  lad  known  as  Silly  Rufus. 
What  's  to  be  done  ?  Wire  orders.  TROHM." 

"  Mr.  Gryce  bade  me  say  that  he  would  be  up 
here  some  time  before  noon,"  said  the  man,  seeing 
me  look  with  some  blankness  at  these  words. 

Nothing  more  was  needed  to  restore  my  self- 
possession.  Folding  up  the  letter,  I  put  it  in  my 
bag. 

"  Say  to  Mr.  Gryce  from  me  that  my  intended 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  2$ 

visit  cannot  be  postponed,"  I  replied.  '  I  have 
telegraphed  to  my  friends  to  expect  me,  and  only  a 
great  emergency  would  lead  me  to  disappoint  them. 
I  will  be  glad  to  receive  Mr.  Gryce  on  my  return." 
And  without  further  parley,  I  took  my  bundles 
back  from  Lena,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  car 
riage.  Why  should  I  show  any  failure  of  courage  at 
an  event  that  was  but  a  repetition  of  the  very  ones 
which  made  my  visit  necessary  ?  Was  I  a  likely 
person  to  fall  victim  to  a  mystery  to  which  my  eyes 
had  been  opened  ?  Had  I  not  been  sufficiently 
warned  of  the  dangers  of  Lost  Man's  Lane  to  keep 
myself  at  a  respectable  distance  from  the  place  of 
peril  ?  I  was  going  to  visit  the  children  of  my  once 
devoted  friend.  If  there  were  perils  of  no  ordinary 
nature  to  be  encountered  in  so  doing,  was  I  not  all 
the  more  called  upon  to  lend  them  the  support  of 
my  presence  ? 

Yes,  Mr.  Gryce,  and  nothing  now  should  hold  me 
back.  I  even  felt  an  increased  desire  to  reach  the 
scene  of  these  mysteries,  and  chafed  some  at  the 
length  of  the  journey,  which  was  of  a  more  tedious 
character  than  I  expected.  A  poor  beginning  for 
events  requiring  patience  as  well  as  great  moral 
courage ;  but  I  little  knew  what  was  before  me,  and 
only  considered  that  every  moment  spent  on  this 
hot  and  dusty  train  kept  me  thus  much  longer  from 
the  embraces  of  Althea's  children. 

I  recovered  my  equanimity,  however,  as  we  ap- 


26  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

preached  X.  The  scenery  was  really  beautiful,  and 
the  consciousness  that  I  should  soon  alight  at  the 
mountain  station  which  had  played  a  more  or  less 
serious  part  in  Mr.  Gryce's  narrative,  awakened  in 
me  a  pleasurable  excitement  which  should  have  been 
a  sufficient  warning  to  me  that  the  spirit  of  investi 
gation  which  had  led  me  so  triumphantly  through 
that  affair  next  door  had  seized  me  again  in  a  way 
that  meant  equal  absorption  if  not  equal  success. 

The  number  of  small  packages  I  carried  gave  me 
enough  to  think  of  at  the  moment  of  alighting,  but 
as  soon  as  I  was  safely  again  on  terra  firma  I  threw 
a  hasty  glance  around  to  see  if  any  of  Althea's  chil 
dren  were  on  hand  to  meet  me. 

I  felt  that  I  ought  to  know  them  at  first  glance. 
Their  mother  had  been  so  characteristically  pretty, 
she  could  not  have  failed  to  transmit  some  of  her 
most  charming  traits  to  her  offspring.  But  while 
there  were  two  or  three  country  maidens  to  be  seen 
standing  in  and  around  the  little  pavilion  known 
here  as  the  Mountain-station,  I  saw  no  one  who  by 
any  stretch  of  imagination  could  be  regarded  as  of 
Althea  Burroughs'  blood  or  breeding. 

Somewhat  disappointed,  for  I  had  expected  differ 
ent  results  from  my  telegram,  I  stepped  up  to  the 
station-master,  and  asked  him  whether  I  would  have 
any  difficulty  in  procuring  a  carriage  to  take  me  to 
Miss  Knollys'  house.  He  stared,  it  seemed  to  me, 
unnecessarily  long,  before  replying. 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  2J 

"  Waal,"  said  he,  "  Simmons  is  usually  here,  but 
I  don't  see  him  around  to-day.  Perhaps  some  of 
these  farmer  lads  will  drive  you  in." 

But  they  all  drew  back  with  a  scared  look,  and  I 
was  beginning  to  tuck  up  my  skirts  preparatory  to 
walking,  when  a  little  old  man  of  exceedingly  meek 
appearance  drove  up  in  a  very  old-fashioned  coach, 
and  with  a  hesitating  air,  springing  entirely  from 
bashfulness,  managed  to  ask  if  I  was  Miss  Butter- 
worth.  I  hastened  to  assure  him  that  I  was  that 
lady,  whereupon  he  stammered  out  some  words 
about  Miss  Knollys,  and  how  sorry  she  was  that 
she  could  not  come  for  me  herself.  Then  he 
pointed  to  his  coach,  and  made  me  understand  that 
I  was  to  step  into  it  and  go  with  him. 

This  I  had  not  counted  upon  doing,  for  I  desired 
to  both  see  and  hear  as  much  as  possible  before 
reaching  my  destination.  There  was  but  one  way 
out  of  it.  To  his  astonishment,  I  insisted  that  my 
belongings  be  put  inside  the  coach,  while  I  rode  on 
the  box. 

It  was  an  inauspicious  beginning  to  a  very  doubt 
ful  adventure.  I  understood  this  when  I  saw  the 
heads  of  the  various  onlookers  draw  together  and 
many  curious  looks  directed  at  both  us  and  the  con 
veyance  that  was  to  carry  us.  But  I  was  in  no  mood 
to  be  daunted  now,  and  mounting  to  the  box  with 
what  grace  I  could,  prepared  myself  for  a  ride  into 
town. 


28  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

But  it  seems  I  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  leave  the 
spot  without  another  warning.  While  the  old  man 
was  engaged  in  fetching  my  trunk,  the  station- 
master  approached  me  with  great  civility,  and  asked 
if  it  was  my  intention  to  spend  a  few  days  with  the 
Misses  Knollys.  I  told  him  that  it  was,  and  think 
ing  it  best  to  establish  my  position  at  once  in  the 
eyes  of  the  whole  town,  added  with  a  politeness 
equal  to  his  own,  that  I  was  an  old  friend  of  the 
family,  and  had  been  coming  to  visit  them  for  years, 
but  had  never  found  it  convenient  till  now,  and  that 
I  hoped  they  were  all  well  and  would  be  glad  to  see 
me. 

His  reply  showed  considerable  embarrassment. 

Perhaps  you  have  not  heard  that  this  village  is 
under  a  cloud  just  now  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  that  one  or  two  men  have  disap 
peared  from  here  somewhat  mysteriously,"  I  re 
turned.  '  Is  that  what  you  mean  ?  " 

'  Yes,  ma'am.     One  person,  a  boy,  disappeared 
only  two  days  ago." 

"  That  's  bad,"  I  said.  "  But  what  has  it  to  do 
with  me  ? "  I  smilingly  added,  for  I  saw  that  he  was 
not  at  the  end  of  his  talk. 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  he  eagerly  replied,  "  only  I  did  n't 
know  but  you  might  be  timid 

"  Oh,  I  'm  not  at  all  timid,"  I  hastened  to  inter 
ject.  '*  If  I  were,  I  should  not  have  come  here  at 
all.  Such  matters  don't  affect  me."  And  I  spread 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  29 

out  my  skirts  and  arranged  myself  for  my  ride  with 
as  much  care  and  precision  as  if  the  horrors  he  had 
mentioned  had  made  no  more  impression  upon  me 
than  if  his  chat  had  been  of  the  weather. 

Perhaps  I  overdid  it,  for  he  looked  at  me  for 
another  moment  in  a  curious,  lingering  way;  then 
he  walked  off,  and  I  saw  him  enter  the  circle  of  gos 
sips  on  the  platform,  where  he  stood  shaking  his 
head  as  long  as  we  were  within  sight. 

My  companion,  who  was  the  shyest  man  I  ever 
saw,  did  not  speak  a  word  while  we  were  descending 
the  hill.  I  talked,  and  endeavored  to  make  him 
follow  my  example,  but  his  replies  were  mere  grunts 
or  half-syllables  which  conveyed  no  information 
whatever.  As  we  cleared  the  thicket,  however,  he 
allowed  himself  an  ejaculation  or  two  as  he  pointed 
out  the  beauties  of  the  landscape.  And  indeed  it 
was  well  worth  his  admiration  and  mine  had  my 
mind  been  free  to  enjoy  it.  But  the  houses,  which 
now  began  to  appear  on  either  side  of  the  way,  drew 
my  attention  from  the  mountains.  Though  still 
somewhat  remote  from  the  town,  we  were  rapidly 
approaching  the  head  of  that  lane  of  evil  fame  with 
whose  awe-inspiring  history  my  thoughts  were  at 
this  time  full.  I  was  so  anxious  not  to  pass  it  with 
out  one  look  into  its  grewsome  recesses  that  I  kept 
my  head  persistently  turned  that  way  till  I  felt  I 
was  attracting  the  attention  of  my  companion.  As 
this  was  not  desirable,  I  put  on  a  nonchalant  look 


3<D  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

and  began  chatting  about  what  I  saw.  But  he  had 
lapsed  into  his  early  silence,  and  seemed  wholly  en 
grossed  in  his  attempt  to  remove  with  the  butt-end 
of  his  whip  a  bit  of  rag  which  had  somehow  become 
entangled  in  the  spokes  of  one  of  the  front  wheels. 
The  furtive  look  he  cast  me  as  he  succeeded  in  doing 
this  struck  me  oddly  at  the  moment,  but  it  was  too 
small  a  matter  to  hold  my  attention  long  or  to  cause 
any  cessation  in  the  flow  of  small  talk  with  which  I 
was  endeavoring  to  enliven  the  situation. 

My  desire  for  conversation  lagged,  however,  as  I 
saw  rising  up  before  us  the  dark  boughs  of  a  pine 
thicket.  We  were  nearing  Lost  Man's  Lane ;  we  were 
abreast  of  it ;  we  were — yes,  we  were  turning  into  it ! 

I  could  not  repress  an  exclamation  of  dismay. 
'  Where  are  we  going  ?  "  I  asked. 
'  To  Miss  Knollys'   house,"  he  found  words  to 
say,  with  a  sidelong  glance  at  me  full  of  uneasy  in 
quiry. 

Do  they  live  on  this  road  ? "  I  cried,  remember 
ing  with  a  certain  shock  Mr.  Gryce's  suspicious 
description  of  the  two  young  ladies  who  with  their 
brother  inhabited  the  dilapidated  mansion  marked 
A  in  the  map  he  had  shown  me. 

Where  else  ?  "  was  his  laconic  answer;  and, 
obliged  to  be  satisfied  with  this  curtest  of  curt  re 
plies,  I  drew  myself  up  with  just  one  longing  look 
behind  me  at  the  cheerful  highway  we  were  so 
rapidly  leaving.  A  cottage,  with  an  open  window, 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  31 

in  which  a  child's  head  could  be  seen  nodding 
eagerly  toward  me,  met  my  eyes  and  filled  me  with 
quite  an  odd  sense  of  discomfort  as  I  realized  that 
I  had  caught  the  attention  of  one  of  the  little  crip 
ples  who,  according  to  Mr.  Gryce,  always  kept 
watch  over  this  entrance  into  Lost  Man's  Lane. 
Another  moment  and  the  pine  branches  had  shut 
the  vision  out,  but  I  did  not  soon  forget  that  eager, 
childish  face  and  pointing  hand,  marking  me  out  as  a 
possible  victim  to  the  horrors  of  this  ill-reputed  lane. 
But  I  was  aware  of  no  secret  flinching  from  the  ad 
venture  into  which  I  was  plunging.  On  the  con 
trary,  I  felt  a  strange  and  fierce  delight  in  thus  being 
thrust  into  the  very  heart  of  the  mystery  I  had  only 
expected  to  approach  by  degrees.  The  warning 
message  sent  me  by  Mr.  Gryce  had  acquired  a  deeper 
and  more  significant  meaning,  as  did  the  looks  which 
had  been  cast  me  by  the  station-master  and  his 
gossips  on  the  hillside,  but  in  my  present  mood 
these  very  tokens  of  the  serious  nature  of  my  under 
taking  only  gave  an  added  spur  to  my  courage.  I 
felt  my  brain  clear  and  my  heart  expand,  as  if  at 
this  moment,  before  I  had  so  much  as  set  eyes  on 
the  faces  of  these  young  people,  I  recognized  the 
fact  that  they  were  the  victims  of  a  web  of  circum 
stances  so  tragic  and  incomprehensible  that  only  a 
woman  like  myself  would  be  able  to  dissipate  them 
and  restore  these  girls  to  the  confidence  of  the 
people  around  them. 


32  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  forgot  that  these  girls  had  a  brother  and  that — 
But  not  a  word  to  forestall  the  truth.  I  wish  this 
story  to  grow  upon  you  just  as  it  did  upon  me,  and 
with  just  as  little  preparation. 

The  farmer  who  drove  me,  and  who  I  afterwards 
learned  was  called  Simsbury,  showed  a  certain  dogged 
interest  in  my  behavior  that  would  have  amused  me, 
or,  at  least,  have  awakened  my  disdain  under  cir 
cumstances  of  a  less  thrilling  nature.  I  saw  his  eye 
roll  in  a  sort  of  wonder  over  my  person,  which  may 
have  been  held  a  little  more  stiffly  than  was  neces 
sary,  and  settle  finally  on  my  face,  with  a  look  I 
might  have  thought  complimentary  had  I  had  any 
thought  to  bestow  on  such  matters.  Not  till  we 
had  passed  the  path  branching  up  through  the 
woods  toward  the  mountain  did  he  see  fit  to  with 
draw  it,  nor  did  I  fail  to  find  it  fixed  again  upon  me 
as  we  rode  by  the  little  hut  occupied  by  the  old 
woman  corfsidered  so  harmless  by  Mr.  Gryce. 

Perhaps  he  had  a  reason  for  this,  as  I  was  very 
much  interested  in  this  hut  and  its  occupant,  about 
whom  I  felt  free  to  cherish  my  own  secret  doubts — 
so  interested  that  I  cast  it  a  very  sharp  glance,  and 
was  glad  when  I  caught  a  glimpse  through  the  door 
way  of  the  old  crone  mumbling  over  a  piece  of  bread 
she  was  engaged  in  eating  as  we  passed  her. 

'  That  's  Mother  Jane,"  explained  my  com 
panion,  breaking  the  silence  of  many  minutes. 
*'  And  yonder  is  Miss  Knollys'  house,"  he  added, 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  33 

lifting  his  whip  and  pointing  toward  the  half-con 
cealed  facade  of  a  large  and  pretentious  dwelling  a 
few  rods  farther  on  down  the  road.  "  She  will  be 
powerful  glad  to  see  you,  Miss.  ^Company  is  scarce 
in  these  parts." 

Astonished  at  this  sudden  launch  into  conversation 
by  one  whose  reserve  I  had  hitherto  found  it  impos 
sible  to  penetrate,  I  gave  him  the  affable  answer  he 
evidently  expected,  and  then  looked  eagerly  toward 
the  house.  It  was  as  Mr.  Gryce  had  intimated,  ex 
ceedingly  forbidding  even  at  that  distance,  and  as 
we  approached  nearer  and  I  was  given  a  full  view  of 
its  worn  and  discolored  front,  I  felt  myself  forced  to 
acknowledge  that  never  in  my  life  had  my  eyes 
fallen  upon  a  habitation  more  given  over  to  neglect 
or  less  promising  in  its  hospitality. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  thin  circle  of  smoke  eddy 
ing  up  from  one  of  its  broken  chimneys,  I  would 
have  looked  upon  the  place  as  one  which  had  not 
known  the  care  or  presence  of  man  for  years.  There 
was  a  riot  of  shrubbery  in  the  yard,  a  lack  of  the 
commonest  attention  to  order  in  the  way  the  vines 
drooped  in  tangled  masses  over  the  face  of  the  deso 
late  porch,  that  gave  to  the  broken  pilasters  and  de 
cayed  window-frames  of  this  dreariest  of  facades 
that  look  of  abandonment  which  only  becomes  pic 
turesque  wrhen  nature  has  usurped  the  prerogative 
of  man  and  taken  entirely  to  herself  the  empty  walls 
and  falling  casements  of  what  was  once  a  human 


34  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

dwelling.  That  any  one  should  be  living  in  it  now 
and  that  I,  who  have  never  been  able  to  see  a  chair 
standing  crooked  or  a  curtain  awry,  without  a  sensa 
tion  of  the  keenest  discomfort,  should  be  on  the 
point  of  deliberately  entering  its  doors  as  an  inmate, 
filled  me  at  the  moment  with  such  a  sense  of  un 
reality,  that  I  descended  from  the  carriage  in  a  sort 
of  a  dream  and  was  making  my  way  through  one  of 
the  gaps  in  the  high  antique  fence  that  separated 
the  yard  from  the  gateway,  when  Mr.  Simsbury 
stopped  me  and  pointed  out  the  gate. 

I  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  apologize  for  my 
mistake,  for  the  broken  palings  certainly  offered  as 
good  an  entrance  as  the  gate,  which  had  slipped 
from  its  hinges  and  hung  but  a  few  inches  open. 
But  I  took  the  course  he  indicated,  holding  up  my 
skirts,  and  treading  gingerly  for  fear  of  the  snails 
and  toads  that  incumbered  such  portions  of  the  path 
as  the  weeds  had  left  visible.  As  I  proceeded  on 
my  way,  something  in  the  silence  of  the  spot  struck 
me.  Was  I  becoming  over-sensitive  to  impressions 
or  was  there  something  really  uncanny  in  the  abso 
lute  lack  of  sound  or  movement  in  a  dwelling  of 
such  dimensions  ?  But  I  should  not  have  said 
movement,  for  at  that  instant  I  saw  a  flash  in  one 
of  the  upper  windows  as  of  a  curtain  being  stealthily 
drawn  and  as  stealthily  let  fall  again,  and  though  it 
gave  me  the  promise  of  some  sort  of  greeting,  there 
was  a  furtiveness  in  the  action,  so  in  keeping  with 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  35 

the  suspicions  of  Mr.  Gryce  that  I  felt  my  nerves 
braced  at  once  to  mount  the  half-dozen  uninviting- 
looking  steps  that  led  to  the  front  door. 

But  no  sooner  had  I  done  this,  with  what  I  am 
fain  to  consider  my  best  air,  than  I  suddenly  col 
lapsed  with  what  I  am  bound  to  regard  as  a  com 
prehensible  and  quite  excusable  fear;  for,  while  I  do 
not  quail  before  men,  and  have  a  reasonable  forti 
tude  in  the  presence  of  most  dangers,  corporeal  and 
moral,  I  am  not  quite  myself  in  face  of  a  rampant 
and  barking  dog.  It  is  my  one  weakness,  and  while 
I  usually  can,  and  under  most  circumstances  do, 
succeed  in  hiding  my  inner  trepidation  under  the 
emergency  just  mentioned,  I  always  feel  that  it 
would  be  a  happy  relief  for  me  if  the  day  should 
ever  come  when  these  so-called  domestic  animals 
would  be  banished  from  the  affections  and  homes  of 
men.  Then  I  think  I  would  begin  to  live  in  good 
earnest  and  perhaps  enjoy  trips  into  the  country, 
which  now,  for  all  my  apparent  bravery,  I  regard 
more  in  the  light  of  a  penance  than  a  pleasure. 

Imagine,  then,  how  hard  I  found  it  to  retain  my 
self-possession  or  even  any  appearance  of  dignity, 
when  at  the  moment  I  was  stretching  forth  my 
hand  toward  the  knocker  of  this  inhospitable  man 
sion  I  heard  rising  from  some  unknown  quarter  a 
howl  so  keen,  piercing,  and  prolonged  that  it  fright 
ened  the  very  birds  over  my  heacl  and  sent  them 
flying  from  the  vines  in  clouds, 


36  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

It  was  the  unhappiest  kind  of  welcome  for  me.  I 
did  not  know  whether  it  came  from  within  or  with 
out,  and  when  after  a  moment  of  indecision  I  saw 
the  door  open,  I  am  not  sure  whether  the  smile  I 
called  up  to  grace  the  occasion  had  any  of  the  real 
Amelia  Butterworth  in  it,  so  much  was  my  mind 
divided  between  a  desire  to  produce  a  favorable  im 
pression  and  a  very  decided  and  not-to-be-hidden 
fear  of  the  dog  who  had  greeted  my  arrival  with 
such  an  ominous  howl. 

"  Call  off  the  dog!  "  I  cried  almost  before  I  saw 
what  sort  of  person  I  was  addressing. 

Mr.  Gryce,  when  I  saw  him  later,  declared  this  to 
be  the  most  significant  introduction  I  could  have 
made  of  myself  upon  entering  the  Knollys  mansion 


IV 

A   GHOSTLY   INTERIOR 

THE  hall  into  which  I  had  stepped  was  so  dark 
that  for  a  few  minutes  I  could  see  nothing  but 
the  indistinct  outline  of  a  young  woman  with  a  very 
white  face.  She  had  uttered  some  sort  of  murmur 
at  my  words,  but  for  some  reason  was  strangely 
silent,  and,  if  I  could  trust  my  eyes,  seemed  rather 
to  be  looking  back  over  her  shoulder  than  into  the 
face  of  her  advancing  guest.  This  was  odd,  but 
before  I  could  quite  satisfy  myself  as  to  the  cause 
of  her  abstraction,  she  suddenly  bethought  herself, 
and  throwing  open  the  door  of  an  adjoining  room, 
let  in  a  stream  of  light  by  which  we  were  enabled  to 
see  each  other  and  exchange  the  greetings  suitable 
to  the  occasion. 

"  Miss  Butterworth,  my  mother's  old  friend,"  she 
murmured,  with  an  almost  pitiful  effort  to  be  cor 
dial,  "  we  are  so  glad  to  have  you  visit  us.  Won't 
you — won't  you  sit  down  ?  " 

What  did  it  mean  ?  She  had  pointed  to  a  chair 
in  the  sitting-room,  but  her  face  was  turned  away 
again  as  if  drawn  irresistibly  toward  some  secret  ob- 

37 


38  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ject  of  dread.  Was  there  anyone  or  anything  at 
the  top  of  the  dim  staircase  I  could  faintly  see  in 
the  distance  ?  It  would  not  do  for  me  to  ask,  nor 
was  it  wise  for  me  to  show  that  I  thought  this  re 
ception  a  strange  one.  Stepping  into  the  room  she 
pointed  out,  I  waited  for  her  to  follow  me,  which 
she  did  with  manifest  reluctance.  But  when  she 
was  once  out  of  the  atmosphere  of  the  hall,  or  out 
of  reach  of  the  sight  or  sound  of  whatever  it  was 
that  frightened  her,  her  face  took  on  a  smile  that 
ingratiated  her  with  me  at  once  and  gave  to  her 
very  delicate  aspect,  which  up  to  that  moment  had 
not  suggested  the  remotest  likeness  to  her  mother, 
a  piquant  charm  and  subtle  fascination  that  were 
not  unworthy  of  the  daughter  of  Althea  Burroughs. 
'  You  must  not  mind  the  poverty  of  your  wel 
come,"  she  said,  with  a  half-proud,  half-apologetic 
look  around  her,  which  I  must  say  the  bareness  and 
shabby  character  of  the  room  we  were  in  fully  justi 
fied.  '  We  have  not  been  very  well  off  since  father 
died  and  mother  left  us.  Had  you  given  us  a  chance 
we  should  have  written  you  that  our  home  would 
not  offer  many  inducements  to  you  after  your  own, 
but  you  have  come  unexpectedly  and — 

There,  there,"  I  put  in,  for  I  saw  that  her  em 
barrassment  would  soon  get  the  better  of  her,  "  do 
not  speak  of  it.  I  did  not  come  to  enjoy  your 
home,  but  to  see  you.  Are  you  the  eldest,  my 
dear,  and  where  are  your  sister  and  brother  ?  " 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  39 

' '  I  am  not  the  eldest, ' '  she  said.  * '  I  am  Lucetta. 
My  sister  " — here  her  head  stole  irresistibly  back  to 
its  old  position  of  listening — "  will — will  come  soon. 
My  brother  is  not  in  the  house." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  astonished  that  she  did  not  ask 
me  to  take  off  my  things,  "  you  are  a  pretty  girl, 
but  you  do  not  look  very  strong.  Are  you  quite 
well,  my  dear  ?  " 

She  started,  looked  at  me  eagerly,  almost  anx 
iously,  for  a  moment,  then  straightened  herself  and 
began  to  lose  some  of  her  abstraction. 

"  I  am  not  a  strong  person,"  she  smiled,  "  but 
neither  am  I  so  very  weak  either.  I  was  always 
small.  So  was  my  mother,  you  know." 

I  was  glad  to  have  her  talk  of  her  mother.  I 
therefore  answered  her  in  a  way  to  prolong  the 
conversation. 

"  Yes,  your  mother  was  small,"  I  admitted,  "  but 
never  thin  or  pallid.  She  was  like  a  fairy  among  us 
schoolgirls.  Does  it  seem  odd  to  hear  -so  old  a 
woman  as  I  speak  of  herself  as  a  schoolgirl  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no!  "  she  said,  but  there  was  no  heart  in 
her  voice. 

"  I  had  almost  forgotten  those  days  till  I  hap 
pened  to  hear  the  name  of  Althea  mentioned  the 
other  day,"  I  proceeded,  seeing  I  must  keep  up  the 
conversation  if  we  were  not  to  sit  in  total  silence. 
"  Then  my  early  friendship  with  your  mother  re 
curred  to  me,  and  I  started  up — as  I  always  do  when 


4O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  come  to  any  decision,  my  dear — and  sent  that 
telegram,  which  I  hope  I  have  not  followed  by  an 
unwelcome  presence." 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  repeated,  but  this  time  with  some 
feeling;  "  we  need  friends,  and  if  you  will  overlook 
our  shortcomings — But  you  have  not  taken  off  your 
hat.  What  will  Loreen  say  to  me  ?  " 

And  with  a  sudden  nervous  action  as  marked  as 
her  late  listlessness,  she  jumped  up  and  began  busy 
ing  herself  over  me,  untying  my  bonnet  and  laying 
aside  my  bundles,  which  up  to  this  moment  I  had 
held  in  my  hands. 

I — I  am  so  absent-minded,"  she  murmured. 
;<  I — I  did  not  think — I  hope  you  will  excuse  me. 
Loreen  would  have  given  you  a  much  better  wel 
come." 

'  Then  Loreen  should  have  been  here,"  I  said, 
with  a  smile.  I  could  not  restrain  this  slight  rebuke, 
yet  I  liked  the  girl;  notwithstanding  everything  I 
had  heard  and  her  own  odd  and  unaccountable 
behavior,  there  was  a  sweetness  in  her  face,  when 
she  chose  to  smile,  that  proved  an  irresistible  at 
traction.  And  then,  for  all  her  absent-mindedness 
and  abstracted  ways,  she  was  such  a  lady !  Her 
plain  dress,  her  restrained  manner,  could  not  hide 
this  fact.  It  was  apparent  in  every  line  of  her  thin 
but  graceful  form  and  in  every  inflection  of  her 
musical  but  constrained  voice.  Had  I  seen  her  in 
my  own  parlor  instead  of  between  these  bare  and 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  41 

moldering  walls,  I  should  have  said  the  same  thing: 
"  She  is  such  a.  lady!"  But  this  only  passed 
through  my  mind  at  the  time.  I  was  not  studying 
her  personality,  but  trying  to  understand  why  my 
presence  in  the  house  had  so  visibly  disturbed  her. 
Was  it  the  embarrassment  of  poverty,  not  knowing 
how  to  meet  the  call  made  so  suddenly  upon  it  ?  I 
hardly  thought  so.  Fear  would  not  enter  into  a 
sensation  of  this  kind,  and  fear  was  what  I  had  seen 
in  her  face  before  the  front  door  had  closed  upon 
me.  But  that  fear  ?  Was  it  connected  with  me  or 
with  something  threatening  her  from  another  por 
tion  of  the  house  ? 

The  latter  supposition  seemed  the  probable  one. 
The  way  her  ear  was  turned,  the  slight  start  she 
gave  at  every  sound,  convinced  me  that  her  cause 
of  dread  lay  elsewhere  than  with  myself,  and  there 
fore  was  worthy  of  my  closest  attention.  Though  I 
chatted  and  tried  in  every  way  to  arouse  her  confi 
dence,  I  could  not  help  asking  myself  between  the 
sentences,  if  the  cause  of  her  apprehension  lay  with 
her  sister,  her  brother,  or  in  something  entirely 
apart  from  either,  and  connected  with  the  dreadful 
matter  which  had  drawn  me  to  X.  Or  another  sup 
position  still,  was  it  merely  the  sign  of  an  habitual 
distemper  which,  misunderstood  by  Mr.  Gryce,  had 
given  rise  to  the  suspicions  which  it  was  my  possible 
mission  here  to  dispel  ? 

Anxious  to  force  things  a  little,  I  remarked,  with 


42  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

a  glance  at  the  dismal  branches  that  almost  forced 
their  way  into  the  open  casements:  "  What  a  scene 
for  young  eyes  like  yours!  Do  you  never  get  tired 
of  these  pine-boughs  and  clustering  shadows  ? 
Would  not  a  little  cottage  in  the  sunnier  part  of  the 
town  be  preferable  to  all  this  dreary  grandeur  ?  " 

She  looked  up  with  sudden  wistfulness  that  made 
her  smile  piteous. 

"  Some  of  my  happiest  days  have  been  passed 
here  and  some  of  my  saddest.  I  do  not  think  I  should 
like  to  leave  it  for  any  sunny  cottage.  We  were 
not  made  for  bonny  homes,"  she  continued.  "  The 
sombreness  of  this  old  house  suits  us." 

"  And  of  this  road,"  I  ventured.  "It  is  the 
darkest  and  most  picturesque  I  ever  rode  through. 
I  thought  I  was  threading  a  wilderness." 

For  a  moment  she  forgot  her  cause  of  anxiety  and 
looked  at  me  quite  intently,  while  a  subtle  shade  of 
doubt  passed  slowly  over  her  features. 

It  is  a  solitary  one,"  she  acquiesced.  ;<  I  do 
not  wonder  it  struck  you  as  dismal.  Have  you 
heard — has  any  one  ever  told  you  that — that  it  was 
not  considered  quite  safe  ?  " 

"  Safe  ?"  I  repeated,  with — God  forgive  me! — an 
expression  of  mild  wonder  in  my  eyes. 

"Yes,  it  has  not  the  best  of  reputations.  Strange 
things  have  happened  in  it.  I  thought  that  some 
one  might  have  been  kind  enough  to  tell  you  this  at 
the  station." 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  43 

There  was  a  gentle  sort  of  sarcasm  in  the  tone ; 
only  that,  or  so  it  seemed  to  me  at  the  time.  I 
began  to  feel  myself  in  a  maze. 

"  Somebody — I  suppose  it  was  the  station-master 
— did  say  something  to  me  about  a  boy  lost  some 
where  in  this  portion  of  the  woods.  Do  you  mean 
that,  my  dear  ?" 

She  nodded,  glancing  again  over  her  shoulder 
and  partly  rising  as  if  moved  by  some  instinct  of 
flight. 

'  They  are  dark  enough,  for  more  than  one  person 
to  have  been  lost  in  their  recesses,"  I  observed  with 
another  look  toward  the  heavily  curtained  windows. 
'  They  certainly  are,"  she  assented,  reseating 
herself  and  eying  me  nervously  while  she  spoke. 
'  We  are  used  to  the  terrors  they  inspire  in  strang 
ers,  but  if  you  " — she  leaped  to  her  feet  in  manifest 
eagerness  and  her  whole  face  changed  in  a  way  she 
little  realized  herself — "  if  you  have  any  fear  of 
sleeping  amid  such  gloomy  surroundings,  we  can 
procure  you  a  room  in  the  village  where  you  will  be 
more  comfortable,  and  where  we  can  visit  you  al 
most  as  well  as  we  can  here.  Shall  I  do  it  ?  Shall 
I  call  - 

My  face  must  have  assumed  a  very  grim  look,  for 
her  words  tripped  at  that  point,  and  a  flush,  the 
first  I  had  seen  on  her  cheek,  suffused  her  face, 
giving  her  an  appearance  of  great  distress. 

"  Oh,  I  wish  Loreen  would  come!     I  am  not  at 


44  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

all  happy  in  my  suggestions,"  she  said,  with  a  dep 
recatory  twitch  of  her  lip  that  was  one  of  her  subtle 
charms.  "  Oh,  there  she  is!  Now  I  may  go,"  she 
cried ;  and  without  the  least  appearance  of  realizing 
that  she  had  said  anything  out  of  place,  she  rushed 
from  the  room  almost  before  her  sister  had  entered 
it. 

But  not  before  their  eyes  had  met  in  a  look  of  un 
usual  significance. 


A   STRANGE   HOUSEHOLD 

HAD  I  not  surprised  this  look  of  mutual  under- 
standing,  I  might  have  received  an  impres 
sion  of  Miss  Knollys  which  would  in  a  measure  have 
counteracted  that  made  by  the  more  nervous  and 
less  restrained  Lucetta.  The  dignified  reserve  of 
her  bearing,  the  quiet  way  in  which  she  approached, 
and,  above  all,  the  even  tones  in  which  she  uttered 
her  welcome,  were  such  as  to  win  my  confidence  and 
put  me  at  my  ease  in  the  house  of  which  she  was 
the  nominal  mistress.  But  that  look!  With  that 
in  my  memory,  I  was  enabled  to  pierce  below  the 
surface  of  this  placid  nature,  and  in  the  very  con 
straint  she  put  upon  herself,  detect  the  presence  of 
the  same  secret  uneasiness  which  had  been  so  openly, 
if  unconsciously,  manifested  by  her  sister. 

She  was  more  beautiful  than  Lucetta  in  form  and 
feature,  and  even  more  markedly  elegant  in  her 
plain  black  gown  and  fine  lawn  ruffles,  but  she 
lacked  her  sister's  evanescent  charm,  and  though 
admirable  to  all  appearance,  was  less  lovable  on  a 
short  acquaintance. 

45 


46  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

But  this  delays  my  tale,  which  is  one  of  action 
rather  than  reflection.  I  had  naturally  expected 
that  with  the  appearance  of  the  elder  Miss  Knollys 
I  should  be  taken  to  my  room ;  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  she  sat  down  and  with  an  apologetic  air  in 
formed  me  that  she  was  sorry  she  could  not  show 
me  the  customary  attentions.  Circumstances  over 
which  she  had  no  control  had  made  it  impossible, 
she  said,  for  her  to  offer  me  the  guest-chamber,  but 
if  I  would  be  so  good  as  to  accept  another  for  this 
one  night,  she  would  endeavor  to  provide  me  with 
better  accommodations  on  the  morrow. 

Satisfied  of  the  almost  painful  nature  of  their 
poverty  and  determined  to  submit  to  privations 
rather  than  leave  a  house  so  imbued  with  mystery, 
I  hastened  to  assure  her  that  any  room  would  be 
acceptable  to  me ;  and  with  a  display  of  good  feel 
ing  not  wholly  insincere,  began  to  gather  up  my 
wraps  in  anticipation  of  being  taken  at  once  up 
stairs. 

But  Miss  Knollys  again  surprised  me  by  saying 
that  my  room  was  not  yet  ready ;  that  they  had  not 
been  able  to  complete  all  their  arrangements,  and 
begged  me  to  make  myself  at  home  in  the  room 
where  I  was  till  evening. 

As  this  was  asking  a  good  deal  of  a  woman  of  my 
years,  fresh  from  a  railroad  journey  and  with  natural 
habits  of  great  neatness  and  order,  I  felt  somewhat 
disconcerted,  but  hiding  my  feelings  in  considera- 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  47 

tion  of  reasons  before  given,  replaced  my  bundles 
on  the  table  and  endeavored  to  make  the  best  of  a 
somewhat  trying  situation. 

Launching  at  once  into  conversation,  I  began,  as 
with  Lucetta,  to  talk  about  her  mother.  I  had 
never  known,  save  in  the  vaguest  way,  why  Mrs. 
Knollys  had  taken  the  journey  which  had  ended  in 
her  death  and  burial  in  a  foreign  land.  Rumor  had 
it  that  she  had  gone  abroad  for  her  health  which 
had  begun  to  fail  after  the  birth  of  Lucetta;  but  as 
Rumor  had  not  added  why  she  had  gone  unaccom 
panied  by  her  husband  or  children,  there  remained 
much  which  these  girls  might  willingly  tell  me, 
which  would  be  of  the  greatest  interest  to  me.  But 
Miss  Knollys,  intentionally  or  unintentionally,  as 
sumed  an  air  so  cold  at  my  well  meant  questions, 
that  I  desisted  from  pressing  them,  and  began  to 
talk  about  myself  in  a  way  which  I  hoped  would 
establish  really  friendly  relations  between  us  and 
make  it  possible  for  her  to  tell  me  later,  if  not  at  the 
present  moment,  what  it  was  that  weighed  so  heav 
ily  upon  the  household,  that  no  one  could  enter  this 
home  without  feeling  the  shadow  of  the  secret  terror 
enveloping  it. 

But  Miss  Knollys,  while  more  attentive  to  my 
remarks  than  her  sister  had  been,  showed,  by  certain 
unmistakable  signs,  that  her  heart  and  interest  were 
anywhere  but  in  that  room ;  and  while  I  could  not 
regard  this  as  throwing  any  discredit  upon  my 


48  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

powers  of  pleasing — which  have  rarely  failed  when 
1  have  exerted  them  to  their  utmost, — I  still  could 
not  but  experience  the  dampening  effect  of  her  man 
ner.  I  went  on  chatting,  but  in  a  desultory  way, 
noting  all  that  was  odd  in  her  unaccountable  re 
ception  of  me,  but  giving,  as  I  firmly  believe,  no 
evidence  of  my  concern  and  rapidly  increasing  curi 
osity. 

The  peculiarities  observable  in  this  my  first  inter 
view  with  these  interesting  but  by  no  means  easily- 
to-be-understood  sisters  continued  all  day.  When 
one  sister  came  in,  the  other  stepped  out,  and  when 
dinner  was  announced  and  I  was  ushered  down  the 
bare  and  dismal  hall  into  an  equally  bare  and  unat 
tractive  dining-room,  it  was  to  find  the  chairs  set 
for  four,  and  Lucetta  only  seated  at  the  table. 

"  Where  is  Loreen  ?  "  I  asked  wonderingly,  as  I 
took  the  seat  she  pointed  out  to  me  with  one  of  her 
faint  and  quickly  vanishing  smiles. 

"  She  cannot  come  at  present,"  my  young  hostess 
stammered  with  an  unmistakable  glance  of  distress 
at  the  large,  hearty-looking  woman  who  had  sum 
moned  me  to  the  dining-room. 

"Ah,"  I  ejaculated,  thinking  that  possibly  Loreen 
had  found  it  necessary  to  assist  in  the  preparation 
of  the  meal,  "  and  your  brother  ?  " 

It  was  the  first  time  he  had  been  mentioned  since 
my  first  inquiries.  I  had  shrunk  from  the  venture 
out  of  a  motive  of  pure  compassion,  and  they  had 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  49 

not  seen  fit  to  introduce  his  name  into  any  of  our 
conversations.  Consequently  I  awaited  her  response, 
with  some  anxiety,  having  a  secret  premonition  that 
in  some  way  he  was  at  the  bottom  of  my  strange 
reception. 

Her  hasty  answer,  given,  however,  without  any 
increase  of  embarrassment,  somewhat  dispelled  this 
supposition. 

"  Oh,  he  will  be  in  presently,"  said  she.  '  Wil 
liam  is  never  very  punctual." 

But  when  he  did  come  in,  I  could  not  help  seeing 
that  her  manner  instantly  changed  and  became  al 
most  painfully  anxious.  Though  it  was  my  first 
meeting  with  the  real  head  of  the  house,  she  waited 
for  an  interchange  of  looks  with  him  before  giving 
me  the  necessary  introduction,  and  when,  this  duty 
performed,  he  took  his  seat  at  the  table,  her  thoughts 
and  attention  remained  so  fixed  upon  him  that  she 
well-nigh  forgot  the  ordinary  civilities  of  a  hostess. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  woman  I  have  spoken  of, 
who  in  her  good-natured  attention  to  my  wants 
amply  made  up  for  the  abstraction  of  her  mistress, 
I  should  have  fared  ill  at  this  meal,  good  and  ample 
as  it  was,  considering  the  resources  of  those  who 
provided  it. 

She  seemed  to  dread  to  have  him  speak,  almost  to 
have  him  move.  She  watched  him  with  her  lips 
half  open,  ready,  as  it  appeared,  to  stop  any  inad 
vertent  expression  he  might  utter  in  his  efforts  to  be 


50  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

agreeable.  She  even  kept  her  left  hand  disengaged, 
with  the  evident  intention  of  stretching  it  out  in  his 
direction  if  in  his  lumbering  stupidity  he  should 
utter  a  sentence  calculated  to  open  my  eyes  to  what 
she  so  passionately  desired  to  have  kept  secret.  I 
saw  it  all  as  plainly  as  I  saw  his  heavy  indifference 
to  her  anxiety ;  and  knowing  from  experience  that 
it  is  in  just  such  stolid  louts  as  these  that  the  worst 
passions  are  often  hidden,  I  took  advantage  of  my 
years  and  forced  a  conversation  in  which  I  hoped 
some  flash  of  his  real  self  would  appear,  despite  her 
wary  watch  upon  him. 

Not  liking  to  renew  the  topic  of  the  lane  itself,  I 
asked  with  a  very  natural  show  of  interest,  who  was 
their  nearest  neighbor.  It  was  William  who  looked 
up  and  William  who  answered. 

"  Old  Mother  Jane  is  the  nearest,"  said  he;  "  but 
she  's  no  good.  We  never  think  of  her.  Mr. 
Trohm  is  the  only  neighbor  I  care  for.  Such 
peaches  as  the  old  fellow  raises!  Such  grapes!  Such 
melons!  He  gave  me  two  of  the  nicest  you  ever 
saw  this  morning.  By  Jupiter,  I  taste  them  yet!  " 

Lucetta's  face,  which  should  have  crimsoned  with 
mortification,  turned  most  unaccountably  pale.  Yet 
not  so  pale  as  it  had  previously  done  when,  a  few 
minutes  before,  he  began  to  say,  "  Loreen  wants 
some  of  this  soup  saved  for  " — and  stopped  awk 
wardly,  conscious  perhaps  that  Loreen's  wants 
should  not  be  mentioned  before  me. 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  51 

'  I  thought  you  promised  me  that  you  would 
never  again  ask  Mr.  Trohm  for  any  of  his  fruit," 
remonstrated  Lucetta. 

"  Oh,  I  did  n't  ask!  I  just  stood  at  the  fence 
and  looked  over.  Mr.  Trohm  and  I  are  good 
friends.  Why  should  n't  I  eat  his  fruit  ?  " 

The  look  she  gave  him  might  have  moved  a  stone; 
but  he  seemed  perfectly  impervious  to  it.  Seeing 
him  so  stolid,  her  head  drooped,  and  she  did  not 
answer  a  word.  Yet  somehow  I  felt  that  even  while 
she  was  so  manifestly  a  prey  to  the  deepest  mortifi 
cation,  her  attention  was  not  wholly  given  over  to 
this  one  emotion.  There  was  something  else  she 
feared.  Hoping  to  relieve  her  and  lighten  the  situ 
ation,  I  forced  myself  to  smile  on  the  young  man  as 
I  said  : 

Why  don't  you  raise  melons  yourself  ?  I  think 
if  I  possessed  your  land  I  should  be  anxious  to  raise 
everything  I  could  on  it." 

"  Oh,  you  're  a  woman!"  he  retorted,  almost 
roughly.  '  It  's  good  business  for  women;  and  for 
men,  too,  perhaps,  who  love  to  see  fruit  hang,  but  I 
only  care  to  eat  it." 

Don't,"  Lucetta  put  in,  but  not  with  the  vigor 
I  had  expected. 

I  like  to  hunt,  train  dogs,  and  enjoy  other 
people's  fruit,"  he  laughed,  with  a  nod  at  the  blush 
ing  Lucetta.  '  I  don't  see  any  use  in  a  man's  put 
ting  himself  out  for  things  he  can  get  for  the  asking. 


52  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Life  's  too  short  for  such  folly.  I  mean  to  have  a 
good  time  while  I  'm  on  this  blessed  sphere." 

"  William!" 

The  cry  was  irresistible,  yet  it  was  not  the  cry  I 
had  been  looking  for.  Painful  as  was  this  exhibition 
of  his  stupidity  and  utter  want  of  feeling,  it  was  not 
the  one  thing  she  stood  in  dread  of,  or  why  was  her 
protest  so  much  weaker  than  her  appearance  had 
given  token  of  ? 

"  Oh !  "  he  shouted  in  great  amusement,  while  she 
shrunk  back  with  a  horrified  look.  "  Lucetta  don't 
like  to  hear  me  say  that.  She  thinks  a  man  ought 
to  work,  plow,  harrow,  dig,  make  a  slave  of  himself, 
to  keep  up  a  place  that  's  no  good  anyway.  But  I 
tell  her  that  work  is  something  she  '11  never  get  out 
of  me.  I  was  born  a  gentleman,  and  a  gentleman 
I  will  live  if  the  place  tumbles  down  over  our  heads. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  the  best  way  to  get  rid  of  it. 
Then  I  could  go  live  with  Mr.  Trohm,  and  have 
melons  from  early  morn  till  late  at  night."  And 
again  his  coarse  laugh  rang  out. 

This,  or  was  it  his  words,  seemed  to  rouse  her  as 
nothing  had  done  before.  Thrusting  out  her  hand, 
she  laid  it  on  his  mouth,  with  a  look  of  almost 
frenzied  appeal  at  the  woman  who  was  standing  at 
his  back. 

"  Mr.  William,  how  can  you!  "  that  woman  pro 
tested  ;  and  when  he  would  have  turned  upon  her 
angrily,  she  leaned  over  and  whispered  in  his  ear  a 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  53 

few  words  that  seemed  to  cow  him,  for  he  gave  a 
short  grunt  through  his  sister's  trembling  fingers 
and,  with  a  shrug  of  his  heavy  shoulders,  subsided 
into  silence. 

To  all  this  I  was  a  simple  spectator,  but  I  did  not 
soon  forget  a  single  feature  of  the  scene. 

The  remainder  of  the  dinner  passed  quietly,  Wil 
liam  and  myself  eating  with  more  or  less  heartiness, 
Lucetta  tasting  nothing  at  all.  In  mercy  to  her  I 
declined  coffee,  and  as  soon  as  William  gave  token 
of  being  satisfied,  we  hurriedly  rose.  It  was  the 
most  uncomfortable  meal  I  ever  ate  in  my  life. 


VI 

A  SOMBRE    EVENING 

THE  evening,  like  the  afternoon,  was  spent  in  the 
sitting-room  with  one  of  the  sisters.  One 
event  alone  is  worth  recording.  I  had  become  ex 
cessively  tired  of  a  conversation  that  always  lan 
guished,  no  matter  on  what  topic  it  started,  and, 
observing  an  old  piano  in  one  corner — I  once  played 
very  well — I  sat  down  before  it  and  impulsively 
struck  a  few  chords  from  the  yellow  keys.  Instantly 
Lucetta — it  was  Lucetta  who  was  with  me  then — 
bounded  to  my  side  with  a  look  of  horror. 

"  Don't  do  that!  "  she  cried,  laying  her  hand  on 
mine  to  stop  me.  Then,  seeing  my  look  of  dignified 
astonishment,  she  added  with  an  appealing  smile, 
"  I  beg  pardon,  but  every  sound  goes  through  me 
to-night." 

"  Are  you  not  well  ?  "  I  asked. 
'  I  am  never  very  well,"  she  returned,  and  we 
went  back  to  the  sofa  and  renewed  our  forced  and 
pitiful  attempts  at  conversation. 

Promptly  at  nine  o'clock  Miss  Knollys  came  in. 
She  was  very  pale  and  cast,  as  usual,  a  sad  and  un- 

54 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  55 

easy  look  at  her  sister  before  she  spoke  to  me.  Im 
mediately  Lucetta  rose,  and,  becoming  very  pale 
herself,  was  hurrying  toward  the  door  when  her 
sister  stopped  her. 

'  You  have  forgotten,"  she  said,  "  to  say  good 
night  to  our  guest." 

Instantly  Lucetta  turned,  and,  with  a  sudden,  un 
controllable  impulse,  seized  my  hand  and  pressed  it 
convulsively. 

"  Good-night,"  she  cried.  '  I  hope  you  will 
sleep  well,"  and  was  gone  before  I  could  say  a 
word  in  response. 

'  Why  does  Lucetta  go  out  of  the  room  when 
you  come  in  ?  "  I  asked,  determined  to  know  the 
reason  for  this  peculiar  conduct.  '  Have  you  any 
other  guests  in  the  house  ?  " 

The  reply  came  with  unexpected  vehemence. 
'  No,"  she  cried,  "  why  should  you  think  so  ? 
There  is  no  one  here  but  the  family. "  And  she 
turned  away  with  a  dignity  she  must  have  inherited 
from  her  father,  for  Althea  Burroughs  had  every 
interesting  quality  but  that.  '  You  must  be  very 
tired,"  she  remarked.  '  If  you  please  we  will  go 
now  to  your  room." 

I  rose  at  once,  glad  of  the  prospect  of  seeing  the 
upper  portion  of  the  house.  She  took  my  wraps  on 
her  arm,  and  we  passed  immediately  into  the  hall. 
As  we  did  so,  I  heard  voices,  one  of  them  shrill  and 
full  of  distress  ;  but  the  sound  was  so  quickly 


56  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

smothered  by  a  closing  door  that  I  failed  to  discover 
whether  this  tone  of  suffering  proceeded  from  a 
man  or  a  woman. 

Miss  Knollys,  who  was  preceding  me,  glanced 
back  in  some  alarm,  but  as  I  gave  no  token  of 
having  noticed  anything  out  of  the  ordinary,  she 
speedily  resumed  her  way  tip-stairs.  As  the  sounds 
I  had  heard  proceeded  from  above,  I  followed  her 
with  alacrity,  but  felt  my  enthusiasm  diminish 
somewhat  when  I  found  myself  passing  door  after 
door  down  a  long  hall  to  a  room  as  remote  as  pos 
sible  from  what  seemed  to  be  the  living  portion  of 
the  house. 

"  Is  it  necessary  to  put  me  off  quite  so  far  ?  "  I 
asked,  as  my  young  hostess  paused  and  waited  for 
me  to  join  her  on  the  threshold  of  the  most  forbid 
ding  room  it  had  ever  been  my  fortune  to  enter. 

The  blush  which  mounted  to  her  brow  showed  that 
she  felt  the  situation  keenly. 

;<  I  am  sure,"  she  said,  "  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
great  regret  to  me  to  be  obliged  to  offer  you  so  mean 
a  lodging,  but  all  our  other  rooms  are  out  of  order, 
and  I  cannot  accommodate  you  with  anything  better 
to-night." 

"  But  is  n't  there  some  spot  nearer  you  ?"  I 
urged.  "  A  couch  in  the  same  room  with  you  would 
be  more  acceptable  to  me  than  this  distant  room." 

'  I — I  hope  you  are  not  timid,"  she  began,  but  I 
hastened  to  disabuse  her  mind  on  this  score. 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  57 

"  I  am  not  afraid  of  any  earthly  thing  but  dogs," 
I  protested  warmly.  '  But  I  do  not  like  solitude. 
I  came  here  for  companionship,  my  dear.  I  really 
would  like  to  sleep  with  one  of  you." 

This,  to  see  how  she  would  meet  such  urgency. 
She  met  it,  as  I  might  have  known  she  would,  by  a 
rebuff. 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  she  again  repeated,  "  but  it 
is  quite  impossible.  If  I  could  give  you  the  com 
forts  you  are  accustomed  to,  I  should  be  glad,  but 
we  are  unfortunate,  we  girls,  and—  '  She  said  no 
more,  but  began  to  busy  herself  about  the  room, 
which  held  but  one  object  that  had  the  least  look  of 
comfort  in  it.  That  was  my  trunk,  which  had  been 
neatly  placed  in  one  corner. 

:<  I  suppose  you  are  not  used  to  candles,"  she  re 
marked,  lighting  what  struck  me  as  a  very  short 
end,  from  the  one  she  held  in  her  hand. 

My  dear,"  said  I,  "  I  can  accommodate  myself 
to  much  that  I  am  not  used  to.  I  have  very  few 
old  maid's  ways  or  notions.  You  shall  see  that  I 
am  far  from  being  a  difficult  guest." 

She  heaved  a  sigh,  and  then,  seeing  my  eye  travel 
ling  slowly  over  the  gray  discolored  walls  which  were 
not  relieved  by  so  much  as  a  solitary  print,  she 
pointed  to  a  bell-rope  near  the  head  of  the  bed,  and 
considerately  remarked : 

"  If  you  wish  anything  in  the  night,  or  are  dis 
turbed  in  anyway,  pull  that.  It  communicates  with 


58  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

my  room,  and  I  will  be  only  too  glad  to  come  to 
you." 

I  glanced  up  at  the  rope,  ran  my  eye  along  the 

wire  communicating  with  it,  and  saw  that  it  was 

broken  sheer  off  before  it  even  entered  into  the  wall. 

I  am  afraid  you  will  not  hear  me,"  I  answered, 

pointing  to  the  break. 

She  flushed  a  deep  scarlet,  and  for  a  moment 
looked  as  embarrassed  as  ever  her  sister  had  done. 

;<  I  did  not  know,"  she  murmured.  "  The  house 
is. so  old,  everything  is  more  or  less  out  of  repair." 
And  she  made  haste  to  quit  the  room. 

I  stepped  after  her  in  grim  determination. 

"  But  there  is  no  key  to  the  door,"  I  objected. 

She  came  back  with  a  look  that  was  as  nearly 
desperate  as  her  placid  features  were  capable  of. 

' '  I  know, ' '  she  said, ' '  I  know.  We  have  nothing. 
But  if  you  are  not  afraid — and  of  what  could  you  be 
afraid  in  this  house,  under  our  protection,  and  with 
a  good  dog  outside  ? — you  will  bear  with  things  to 
night,  and — Good  God  !  "  she  murmured,  but  not  so 
low  but  that  my  excited  sense  caught  every  syllable, 
"  can  she  have  heard  ?  Has  the  reputation  of  this 
place  gone  abroad  ?  Miss  Butterworth,"  she  re 
peated  earnestly,  "  the  house  contains  no  cause  of 
terror  for  you.  Nothing  threatens  our  guest,  nor 
need  you  have  the  least  concern  for  yourself  or  us, 
whether  the  night  passes  in  quiet  or  whether  it  is 
broken  by  unaccountable  sounds.  They  will  have 


THE   K NOLLYS  FAMILY  59 

no  reference  to   anything  in  which   you  are  inter 
ested." 

"  Ah,  ha,"  thought  I,  "  won't  they!  You  give 
me  credit  for  much  indifference,  my  dear."  But  I 
said  nothing  beyond  a  few  soothing  phrases,  which 
I  made  purposely  short,  seeing  that  every  moment 
I  detained  her  was  just  so  much  unnecessary  torture 
to  her.  Then  I  went  back  to  my  room  and  carefully 
closed  the  door.  My  first  night  in  this  dismal  and 
strangely  ordered  house  had  opened  anything  but 
propitiously. 


VII 

THE  FIRST  NIGHT 

I  SPOKE  with  a  due  regard  to  truth  when  I  assured 
Miss  Knollys  that  I  entertained  no  fears  at  the 
prospect  of  sleeping  apart  from  the  rest  of  the 
family.  I  am  a  woman  of  courage — or  so  I  have 
always  believed — and  at  home  occupy  my  second 
floor  alone  without  the  least  apprehension.  But 
there  is  a  difference  in  these  two  abiding-places,  as 
I  think  you  are  ready  by  this  time  to  acknowledge, 
and,  though  I  felt  little  of  what  is  called  fear,  I  cer 
tainly  did  not  experience  my  usual  satisfaction  in 
the  minute  preparations  with  which  I  am  accustomed 
to  make  myself  comfortable  for  the  night.  There 
was  a  gloom  both  within  and  without  the  four  bare 
walls  between  which  I  now  found  myself  shut, 
which  I  would  have  been  something  less  than 
human  not  to  feel,  and  though  I  had  no  dread  of 
being  overcome  by  it,  I  was  glad  to  add  something 
to  the  cheer  of  the  spot  by  opening  my  trunk  and 
taking  out  a  few  of  those  little  matters  of  personal 
equipment  without  which  the  brightest  room  looks 
barren  and  a  den  like  this  too  desolate  for  habitation. 

60 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  6 1 

Then  I  took  a  good  look  about  me  to  see  how  I 
could  obtain  for  myself  some  sense  of  security.  The 
bed  was  light  and  could  be  pulled  in  front  of  the 
door.  This  was  something.  There  was  but  one 
window,  and  that  was  closely  draped  with  some 
thick,  dark  stuff,  very  funereal  in  its  appearance. 
Going  to  it,  I  pulled  aside  the  thick  folds  and 
looked  out.  A  mass  of  heavy  foliage  at  once  met 
my  eye,  obstructing  the  view  of  the  sky  and  adding 
much  to  the  lonesomeness  of  the  situation.  I  let 
the  curtain  fall  again  and  sat  down  in  a  chair  to 
think. 

The  shortness  of  the  candle-end  with  which  I  had 
been  provided  had  struck  me  as  significant,  so  sig 
nificant  that  I  had  not  allowed  it  to  burn  long  after 
Miss  Knollys  had  left  me.  If  these  girls,  charming, 
no  doubt,  but  sly,  had  thought  to  shorten  my  watch 
by  shortening  my  candle,  I  would  give  them  no 
cause  to  think  but  that  their  ruse  had  been  suc 
cessful.  The  foresight  which  causes  me  to  add  a 
winter  wrap  to  my  stock  of  clothing  even  when  the 
weather  is  at  the  hottest,  leads  me  to  place  a  half 
dozen  or  so  of  candles  in  my  travelling  trunk,  and 
so  I  had  only  to  open  a  little  oblong  box  in  the 
upper  tray  to  have  the  means  at  my  disposal  of 
keeping  a  light  all  night. 

So  far,  so  good.  I  had  a  light,  but  had  I  any 
thing  else  in  case  William  Knollys — but  with  this 
thought  Miss  Knollys's  look  and  reassuring  words 


62  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

recurred  to  me.  '  Whatever  you  may  hear — if  you 
hear  anything — will  have  no  reference  to  yourself 
and  need  not  disturb  you." 

This  was  comforting  certainly,  from  a  selfish 
standpoint;  but  did  it  relieve  my  mind  concerning 
others  ? 

Not  knowing  what  to  think  of  it  all,  and  fully 
conscious  that  sleep  would  not  visit  me  under  exist 
ing  circumstances,  I  finally  made  up  my  mind  not 
to  lie  down  till  better  assured  that  sleep  on  my  part 
would  be  desirable.  So  after  making  the  various 
little  arrangements  already  alluded  to,  I  drew  over 
my  shoulders  a  comfortable  shawl  and  set  myself  to 
listen  for  what  I  feared  would  be  more  than  one 
dreary  hour  of  this  not  to  be  envied  night. 

And  here  just  let  me  stop  to  mention  that,  care 
fully  considered  as  all  my  precautions  were,  I  had 
forgotten  one  thing  upon  leaving  home  which  at 
this  minute  made  me  very  nearly  miserable.  I  had 
not  included  among  my  effects  the  alcohol  lamp  and 
all  the  other  private  and  particular  conveniences 
which  I  possess  for  making  tea  in  my  own  apart 
ment.  Had  I  but  had  them  with  me,  and  had  I 
been  able  to  make  and  sip  a  cup  of  my  own  de 
licious  tea  through  the  ordeal  of  listening  for  what 
ever  sounds  might  come  to  disturb  the  midnight 
stillness  of  this  house,  what  relief  it  would  have 
been  to  my  spirits  and  in  what  a  different  light  I 
might  have  regarded  Mr.  Gryce  and  the  mission 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  63 

with  which  I  had  been  intrusted.  But  I  not  only 
lacked  this  element  of  comfort,  but  the  satisfaction 
of  thinking  that  it  was  any  one's  fault  but  my  own. 
Lena  had  laid  her  hand  on  that  teapot,  but  I  had 
shaken  my  head,  fearing  that  the  sight  of  it  might 
offend  the  eyes  of  my  young  hostesses.  But  I 
had  not  calculated  upon  being  put  in  a  remote 
corner  like  this  of  a  house  large  enough  to  ac 
commodate  a  dozen  families,  and  if  ever  I  travel 
again 

But  this  is  a  matter  personal  to  Amelia  Butter- 
worth,  and  of  no  interest  to  you.  I  will  not  inflict 
my  little  foibles  upon  you  again. 

Eleven  o'clock  came  and  went.  I  had  heard  no 
sound.  Twelve,  and  I  began  to  think  that  all  was 
not  quite  so  still  as  before ;  that  I  certainly  could 
hear  now  and  then  faint  noises  as  of  a  door  creaking 
on  its  hinges,  or  the  smothered  sound  of  stealthily 
moving  feet.  Yet  all  was  so  far  from  being  distinct, 
that  for  some  time  I  hesitated  to  acknowledge  to 
myself  that  anything  could  be  going  on  in  the  house, 
which  was  not  to  be  looked  for  in  a  home  professing 
to  be  simply  the  abode  of  a  decent  young  man  and 
two  very  quiet-appearing  young  ladies;  and  even 
after  the  noises  and  whispering  had  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  I  could  even  distinguish  the 
sullen  tones  of  the  brother  from  the  softer  and  more 
carefully  modulated  accents  of  Lucetta  and  her 
sister,  I  found  myself  ready  to  explain  the  matter 


64  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

by  any  conjecture  short  of  that  which  involved  these 
delicate  young  ladies  in  any  scheme  of  secret  wicked 
ness. 

But  when  I  found  there  was  likely  to  be  no  dimi 
nution  in  the  various  noises  and  movements  that 
were  taking  place  in  the  front  of  the  house,  and  that 
only  something  much  out  of  the  ordinary  could  ac 
count  for  so  much  disturbance  in  a  country  home  so 
long  after  midnight,  I  decided  that  only  a  person 
insensible  to  all  sight  and  sound  could  be  expected 
to  remain  asleep  under  such  circumstances,  and  that 
I  would  be  perfectly  justified  in  their  eyes  in  open 
ing  my  door  and  taking  a  peep  down  the  corridor. 
So  without  further  ado,  I  drew  my  bed  aside  and 
glanced  out. 

All  was  perfectly  dark  and  silent  in  the  great 
house.  The  only  light  visible  came  from  the  candle 
burning  in  the  room  behind  me,  and  as  for  sound, 
it  was  almost  too  still — it  was  the  stillness  of  intent 
rather  than  that  of  natural  repose. 

This  was  so  unexpected  that  for  an  instant  I  stood 
baffled  and  wondering.  Then  my  nose  went  up, 
and  I  laughed  quietly  to  myself.  I  could  see 
nothing  and  I  could  hear  nothing;  but  Amelia  But- 
terworth,  like  most  of  her  kind,  boasts  of  more  than 
two  senses,  and  happily  there  was  something  to 
smell.  A  quickly  blown-out  candle  leaves  a  witness 
behind  it  to  sensitive  nostrils  like  mine,  and  this 
witness  assured  me  that  the  darkness  was  deceptive. 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  65 

Some  one  had  just  passed  the  head  of  my  corridor 
with  a  light,  and  because  the  light  was  extinguished 
it  did  not  follow  that  the  person  who  held  it  was  far 
away.  Indeed,  I  thought  that  now  I  heard  a  pal 
pitating  breath. 

"  Humph,"  I  cried  aloud,  but  as  if  in  unconscious 
communion  with  myself,  "  it  is  not  often  I  have  so 
vivid  a  dream !  I  was  sure  that  I  heard  steps  in  the 
hall.  I  fear  I  'm  growing  nervous." 

Nothing  moved.     No  one  answered  me. 

"  Miss  Knollys!  "  I  called  firmly. 

No  reply. 

"  Lucetta,  dear!  " 

I  thought  this  appeal  would  go  unanswered  also, 
but  when  I  raised  my  voice  for  the  third  time,  a 
sudden  rushing  sound  took  place  down  the  corridor, 
and  Lucetta's  excited  figure,  fully  dressed,  appeared 
in  the  faint  circle  of  light  caused  by  my  now  rapidly 
waning  candle. 

Miss  Butterworth,  what  is  the  matter?"  she 
asked,  making  as  if  she  would  draw  me  into  my 
room — a  proceeding  which  I  took  good  care  she 
should  not  succeed  in. 

Giving  a  glance  at  her  dress,  which  was  the  same 
she  had  worn  at  the  supper  table,  I  laughingly  re 
torted  : 

Is  n't  that  a  question  I  might  better  ask  you  ? 
It  is  two  o'clock  by  my  watch,  and  you,  for  all  your 
apparent  delicacy,  are  still  up.  What  does  it  mean, 


66  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

my  dear  ?  Have  I  put  you  out  so  completely  by 
my  coming  that  none  of  you  can  sleep  ?  " 

Her  eyes,  which  had  fallen  before  mine,  quickly 
looked  up. 

;<  I  am  sorry,"  she  began,  flushing  and  trying  to 
take  a  peep  into  my  room,  possibly  to  see  if  I  had 
been  to  bed.  '  We  did  not  mean  to  disturb  you, 
but — but — oh,  Miss  Butterworth,  pray  excuse  our 
makeshifts  and  our  poverty.  We  wished  to  fix  up 
another  room  for  you,  and  were  ashamed  to  have 
you  see  how  little  we  had  to  do  it  with,  so  we  were 
moving  some  things  out  of  our  own  room  to-night, 
and " 

Here  her  voice  broke,  and  she  burst  into  an  almost 
uncontrollable  flood  of  tears. 

'  Don't,"  she  entreated,  "  don't,"  as,  quite 
thoroughly  ashamed,  I  began  to  utter  some  ex 
cuses.  "  I  shall  be  all  right  in  a  moment.  I  am 
used  to  humiliations.  Only  " — -and  her  whole  body 
seemed  to  join  in  the  plea,  it  trembled  so — "  do  not, 
I  pray,  speak  quite  so  loud.  My  brother  is  more 
sensitive  than  even  Loreen  and  myself  about  these 
things,  and  if  he  should  hear " 

Here  a  suppressed  oath  from  way  down  the  hall 
assured  me  that  he  did  hear,  but  I  gave  no  sign  of 
my  recognition  of  this  fact,  and  Lucetta  added 
quickly:  "  He  would  not  forgive  us  for  our  careless 
ness  in  waking  you.  He  is  rough  sometimes,  but 
so  good  at  heart,  so  good." 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  6? 

This,  with  the  other  small  matter  I  have  just 
mentioned,  caused  a  revulsion  in  my  feelings.  He 
good  ?  I  did  not  believe  it.  Yet  her  eyes  showed 
no  wavering  when  I  interrogated  them  with  mine, 
and  feeling  that  I  had  perhaps  been  doing  them  all 
an  injustice,  and  that  what  I  had  seen  was,  as  she  evi 
dently  meant  to  intimate,  due  to  their  efforts  to 
make  a  sudden  guest  comfortable  amid  their  pov 
erty,  I  put  the  best  face  I  could  on  the  matter  and 
gave  the  poor,  pitiful,  pleading  face  a  kiss.  I  was 
startled  to  feel  how  cold  her  forehead  was,  and, 
more  and  more  concerned,  loaded  her  down  with 
such  assurances  of  appreciation  as  came  to  my  lips, 
and  sent  her  back  to  her  own  room  with  an  injunc 
tion  not  to  trouble  herself  any  more  about  fixing  up 
any  other  room  for  me.  "  Only,"  I  added,  as  her 
whole  face  showed  relief,  "  we  will  go  to  the  lock 
smith  to-morrow  and  get  a  key ;  and  after  to-night 
you  will  be  kind  enough  to  see  that  I  have  a  cup  of 
tea  brought  to  my  room  just  before  I  retire.  I  am 
no  good  without  my  cup  of  tea,  my  dear.  What 
keeps  other  people  awake  makes  me  sleep." 

"  Oh,  you  shall  have  your  tea!  "  she  cried,  with 
an  eagerness  that  was  almost  unnatural,  and  then, 
slipping  from  my  grasp,  she  uttered  another  hasty 
apology  for  having  roused  me  from  my  sleep  and 
ran  hastily  back. 

I  stretched  out  my  arm  for  the  candle  guttering 
in  my  room  and  held  it  up  to  light  her.  She  seemed 


68  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

to  shrink  at  sight  of  its  rays,  and  the  last  vision  I 
had  of  her  speeding  figure  showed  me  that  same  look 
of  dread  on  her  pallid  features  which  had  aroused 
my  interest  in  our  first  interview. 

"  She  may  have  explained  why  the  three  of  them 
are  up  at  this  time  of  night,"  I  muttered,  "  but  she 
has  not  explained  why  her  every  conversation  is 
seasoned  by  an  expression  of  fear." 

And  thus  brooding,  I  went  back  to  my  room  and, 
pushing  the  bed  again  against  the  door,  lay  down 
upon  it  and  out  of  sheer  chagrin  fell  fast  asleep. 


VIII 

ON  THE   STAIRS 

I   DID  not  wake  up  till  morning.     The  room  was 
so  dark  that  in  all  probability  I  should  not  have 
wakened  then,  if  my  habits  of  exact  punctuality  had 
not  been-  aided  by  a  gentle  knock  at  my  door. 

"  Who  's  there  ?"  I  called,  for  I  could  not  say 
"  Come  in  "  till  I  had  moved  my  bed  and  made  way 
for  the  door  to  open. 

4  Hannah  with  warm  water,"  replied  a  voice,  at 
which  I  made  haste  to  rise.  Hannah  was  the 
woman  who  had  waited  on  us  at  dinner. 

The  sight  of  her  pleasant  countenance,  which 
nevertheless  looked  a  trifle  haggard,  was  a  welcome 
relief  after  the  sombre  features  of  the  night.  Ad 
dressing  her  with  my  usual  brusqueness,  but  with 
quite  my  usual  kindness,  I  asked  how  the  young 
ladies  were  feeling  this  morning. 

Her  answer  made  a  great  show  of  frankness. 

"  Oh,  they  are  much  as  usual,"  said  she.  "  Miss 
Loreen  is  in  the  kitchen  and  Miss  Lucetta  will  soon 
be  here  to  inquire  how  you  are.  I  hope  you  passed 
a  good  night  yourself,  ma'am." 

69 


7O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  had  slept  more  than  I  ought  to,  perhaps,  and 
made  haste  to  reassure  her  as  to  my  own  condition. 
Then  seeing  that  a  little  talk  would  not  be  unwel 
come  to  this  hearty  woman,  tired  to  death  possibly 
with  life  in  this  dreary  house,  I  made  some  ex 
cuse  for  keeping  her  a  few  minutes,  saying  as  I  did 
so: 

'  What  an  immense  dwelling  this  is  for  four  per 
sons  to  live  in,  or  have  you  another  inmate  whom 
I  have  not  seen  ?  " 

I  thought  her  buxom  color  showed  a  momentary 
sign  of  failing,  but  it  all  came  back  with  her  answer, 
which  was  given  in  a  round,  hearty  voice. 

Oh,  I  'm  the  only  maid,  ma'am.  I  cook  and 
sweep  and  all.  I  could  n't  abide  another  near  me. 
Even  Mr.  Simsbury,  who  tends  the  cow  and  horse 
and  who  only  comes  in  for  his  dinner,  worries  me  by 
spells.  I  like  to  have  my  own  way  in  the  kitchen, 
except  when  the  young  ladies  choose  to  come  in. 
Is  there  anything  more  you  want,  ma'am,  and  do 
you  prefer  tea  or  coffee  for  breakfast  ?  " 

I  told  her  that  I  always  drank  coffee  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  would  have  liked  to  have  added  a  question 
or  two,  but  she  gave  me  no  chance.  As  she  went 
out  I  saw  her  glance  at  my  candlestick.  There  was 
only  a  half-burned  end  in  it.  She  is  calculating, 
too,  how  long  I  sat  up,  thought  I. 

Lucetta  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  as  I  went 
down. 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  7 1 

"  Will  you  excuse  me  for  a  few  moments  ?  "  said 
she.  "  I  am  not  quite  ready  to  follow  you,  but  will 
be  soon." 

"  I  will  take  a  look  at  the  grounds." 

I  thought  she  hesitated  for  a  moment;  then  her 
face  lighted  up.  "  Be  sure  you  don't  encounter  the 
dog,"  she  cried,  and  slipped  hastily  down  a  side 
hall  I  had  not  noticed  the  night  before. 

"  Ah,  a  good  way   to   keep  me  in,"  I  reasoned. 

But  I  shall  see  the  grounds  yet  if  I  have  to  poison 
that  dog."  Notwithstanding,  I  made  no  haste  to 
leave  the  house.  I  don't  believe  in  tempting  Provi 
dence,  especially  where  a  dog  is  concerned. 

Instead  of  that,  I  stood  still  and  looked  up  and 
down  the  halls,  endeavoring  to  get  some  idea  of 
their  plan  and  of  the  location  of  my  own  room  in 
reference  to  the  rest. 

I  found  that  the  main  hall  ran  at  right  angles  to 
the  long  corridor  down  which  I  had  just  come,  and 
noting  that  the  doors  opening  into  it  were  of  a  size 
and  finish  vastly  superior  to  those  I  had  passed  in 
the  corridor  just  mentioned,  I  judged  that  the  best 
bedrooms  all  lay  front,  and  that  I  had  been  quar 
tered  at  the  end  of  what  had  once  been  considered 
as  the  servants'  hall.  At  my  right,  as  I  looked 
down  the  stairs,  ran  a  wall  with  a  break,  which 
looked  like  an  opening  into  another  corridor,  and  in 
deed  I  afterward  learned  that  the  long  series  of 
rooms  of  which  mine  was  the  last,  had  its  counter- 


/2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

part  on  the  other  side  of  this  enormous  dwelling, 
giving  to  the  house  the  shape  of  a  long,  square  U. 

I  was  looking  in  some  wonderment  at  this  opening 
and  marvelling  over  the  extravagant  hospitality  of 
those  old  days  which  necessitated  such  a  number  of 
rooms  in  a  private  gentleman's  home,  when  I  heard 
a  door  open  and  two  voices  speaking.  One  was 
rough  and  careless,  unmistakably  that  of  William 
Knollys.  The  other  was  slow  and  timid,  and  was 
just  as  unmistakably  that  of  the  man  who  had 
driven  me  to  this  house  the  day  before.  They  were 
talking  of  some  elderly  person,  and  I  had  good  sense 
enough  not  to  allow  my  indignation  to  blind  me  to 
the  fact  that  by  that  elderly  person  they  meant  me. 
This  is  important,  for  their  words  were  not  without 
significance. 

"  How  shall  we  keep  the  old  girl  out  of  the  house 
till  it  is  all  over  ?  "  was  what  I  heard  from  William's 
surly  lips. 

"  Lucetta  has  a  plan,"  was  the  hardly  distinguish 
able  answer.  ;<  I  am  to  take — 

That  was  all  I  could  hear;  a  closing  door  shut  off 
the  remainder.  Something,  then,  was  going  on  in 
this  house,  of  a  dark  if  not  mysterious  character, 
and  the  attempts  made  by  these  two  interesting  and 
devoted  girls  to  cover  up  the  fact,  by  explanations 
founded  on  their  poverty,  had  been  but  subterfuges 
after  all.  Grieved  on  their  account,  but  inwardly 
grateful  to  the  imprudence  of  their  more  than  reck- 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  73 

less  brother,  for  this  not-to-be-mistaken  glimpse  into 
the  truth,  I  slowly  descended  the  stairs,  in  that 
state  of  complete  self-possession  which  is  given  by 
a  secret  knowledge  of  the  intentions  formed  against 
us  by  those  whose  actions  we  have  reason  to  suspect. 
Henceforth  I  had  but  one  duty — to  penetrate  the 
mystery  of  this  household.  .  Whether  it  was  the 
one  suspected  by  Mr.  Gryce  or  another  of  a  less  evil 
and  dangerous  character  hardly  mattered  in  my  eyes. 
While  the  blight  of  it  rested  upon  this  family,  eyes 
would  be  lowered  and  heads  shaken  at  their  name. 
This,  if  I  could  help  it,  must  no  longer  be.  If  guilt 
lay  at  the  bottom  of  all  this  fear,  then  this  guilt 
must  be  known;  if  innocence — I  thought  of  the 
brother's  lowering  brow  and  felt  it  incompatible 
with  innocence,  but  remembering  Mr.  Gryce's  re 
marks  on  this  subject,  read  an  instant  lecture  to 
myself  and,  putting  all  conclusions  aside,  devoted 
the  few  minutes  in  which  I  found  myself  alone  in 
the  dining-room  to  a  careful  preparation  of  my 
mind  for  its  duty,  which  was  not  likely  to  be  of  the 
simplest  character  if  Lucetta's  keen  wits  were  to  be 
pitted  against  mine. 


IX 

A  NEW  ACQUAINTANCE 

WHEN  my  mind  is  set  free  from  doubt  and 
fully  settled  upon  any  course,  I  am  capable 
of  much  good  nature  and  seeming  simplicity.  I  was 
therefore  able  to  maintain  my  own  at  the  breakfast- 
table  with  some  success,  so  that  the  meal  passed  off 
without  any  of  the  disagreeable  experiences  of  the 
night  before.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  Loreen  presided 
at  the  coffee-urn  instead  of  Lucetta  had  something 
to  do  with  this.  Her  calm,  even  looks  seemed  to 
put  some  restraint  upon  the  boisterous  outbursts  to 
which  William  was  only  too  liable,  while  her  less 
excitable  nature  suffered  less  if  by  any  chance  he 
did  break  out  and  startle  the  decorous  silence  by 
one  of  his  rude  guffaws. 

I  am  a  slow  eater,  but  I  felt  forced  to  hurry 
through  the  meal  or  be  left  eating  alone  at  the  end. 
This  did  not  put  me  in  the  best  of  humor,  for  I 
hated  to  risk  an  indigestion  just  when  my  faculties 
needed  to  be  unusually  alert.  I  compromised  by 
leaving  the  board  hungry,  but  I  did  it  with  such  a 

74 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  75 

smile  that  I  do  not  think  Miss  Knollys  knew  I  had 
not  risen  from  any  table  so  ill  satisfied  in  years. 

"  I  will  leave  you  to  my  brother  for  a  few  min 
utes,"  said  she,  hastily  tripping  from  the  room.  '  I 
pray  that  you  will  not  think  of  going  to  your  room 
till  we  have  had  an  opportunity  of  arranging  it." 

I  instantly  made  up  my  mind  to  disobey  this  in 
junction.  But  first,  it  was  necessary  to  see  what  I 
could  make  of  William. 

He  was  not  a  very  promising  subject  as  he  turned 
and  led  the  way  toward  the  front  of  the  house. 

"  I  thought  you  might  like  to  see  the  grounds," 
he  growled,  evidently  not  enjoying  the  role  assigned 
him.  "  They  are  so  attractive,"  he  sneered. 
"  Children  hereabout  call  them  the  jungle." 

'  Who  's  to  blame  for  that  ?  "  I  asked,  with  only 
a  partial  humoring  of  his  ill  nature.  '  You  have  a 
sturdy  pair  of  arms  of  your  own,  and  a  little  trim 
ming  here  and  a  little  trimming  there  would  have 
given  quite  a  different  appearance  to  this  under 
growth.  A  gentleman  usually  takes  pride  in  his 
place." 

'  Yes,  when  it  's  all  his.  This  belongs  to  my 
sisters  as  much  as  to  me.  What  's  the  use  of  my 
bothering  myself  about  it  ?  " 

The  man  was  so  selfish  he  did  not  realize  the  ex 
tent  of  the  exhibition  he  made  of  it.  Indeed  he 
seemed  to  take  pride  in  what  he  probably  called  his 
independence.  I  began  to  feel  the  most  intense 


J6  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

aversion  for  him,  and  only  with  the  greatest  diffi 
culty  could  prolong  this  conversation  unmoved. 

I  should  think  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  give 
that  much  assistance  to  your  sisters.  They  do  not 
seem  to  be  sparing  in  their  attempts  to  please  you." 

He  snapped  his  fingers,  and  I  was  afraid  a  dog  or 
two  would  come  leaping  around  the  corner  of  the 
house.  But  it  was  only  his  way  of  expressing  dis 
dain. 

"  Oh,  the  girls  are  well  enough,"  he  grumbled; 
"  but  they  will  stick  to  the  place.  Lucetta  might 
have  married  a  half-dozen  times,  and  once  I  thought 
she  was  going  to,  but  suddenly  she  turned  straight 
about  and  sent  her  lover  packing,  and  that  made  me 
mad  beyond  everything.  Why  should  she  hang  on 
to  me  like  a  burr  when  there  are  other  folks  willing 
to  take  on  the  burden  ?  " 

It  was  the  most  palpable  display  of  egotism  I  had 
ever  seen  and  one  of  the  most  revolting.  I  was  so 
disgusted  by  it  that  I  spoke  up  without  any  too 
much  caution. 

'  Perhaps  she  thinks  she  can  be  useful  to  you,"  I 
said.  "  I  have  known  sisters  give  up  their  own 
happiness  on  no  better  grounds." 

"  Useful  ?"  he  sneered.  "  It  's  a  usefulness  a 
man  like  me  can  dispense  with.  Do  you  know  what 
I  would  like  ?  " 

We  were  standing  in  one  of  the  tangled  pathways, 
with  our  faces  turned  toward  the  house.  As  he 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  77 

spoke,  he  looked  up  and  made  a  rude  sort  of  gesture 
toward  the  blank  expanse  of  empty  and  curtainless 
windows. 

"  I  would  like  that  great  house  all  to  myself,  to 
make  into  one  huge,  bachelor's  hall.  I  should  like 
to  feel  that  I  could  tramp  from  one  end  of  it  to  the 
other  without  awakening  an  echo  I  did  not  choose 
to  hear  there.  I  should  not  find  it  too  big.  I 
should  not  find  it  too  lonesome.  I  and  my  dogs 
would  know  how  to  fill  it,  would  n't  we,  Saracen  ? 
Oh,  I  forgot,  Saracen  is  locked  up." 

The  way  he  mumbled  the  last  sentence  showed 
displeasure,  but  I  gave  little  heed  to  that.  The 
gloating  way  in  which  he  said  he  and  his  dogs  would 
fill  it  had  given  me  a  sort  of  turn.  I  began  to  have 
more  than  an  aversion  for  the  man.  He  inspired  me 
with  something  like  terror., 

"  Your  wishes,"  said  I,  with  as  little  expression 
as  possible,  "  seem  to  leave  your  sisters  entirely  out 
of  your  calculations.  How  would  your  mother  re 
gard  that  if  she  could  see  you  from  the  place  where 
she  is  gone  ?  " 

He  turned  upon  me  with  a  look  of  anger  that 
made  his  features  positively  ugly. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  speaking  to  me  of  my 
mother  ?  Have  I  spoken  of  her  to  you  ?  Is  there 
any  reason  why  you  should  lug  my  mother  into  this 
conversation  ?  If  so,  say  so,  and  be — 

He  did  not  swear  at  me;  he  did  not  dare  to,  but 


78  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

he  came  precious  near  to  it,  and  that  was  enough  to 
make  me  recoil. 

She  was  my  friend,"  said  I.  "I  knew  and 
loved  her  before  you  were  born.  That  was  why  I 
spoke  of  her,  and  I  think  it  very  natural  myself." 

He  seemed  to  feel  ashamed.  He  grumbled  out 
some  sort  of  apology  and  looked  about  quite  help 
lessly,  possibly  for  the  dog  he  manifestly  was  in  the 
habit  of  seeing  forever  at  his  heels.  I  took  advan 
tage  of  this  momentary  abstraction  on  his  part  to 
smooth  my  own  disturbed  features. 

"  She  was  a  beautiful  girl,"  I  remarked,  on  the 
principle  that,  the  ice  once  broken,  one  should  not 
hesitate  about  jumping  in.  '  Was  your  father 
equally  handsome  for  a  man  ?" 

:<  My  father — yes,  let  's  talk  of  father.  He  was  a 
judge  of  horses,  he  was.  When  he  died,  there  were 
three  mares  in  the  stable  not  to  be  beat  this  side  of 
Albany,  but  those  devils  of  executors  sold  them, 
and  I — well,  you  had  a  chance  to  test  the  speed  of 
old  Bess  yesterday.  You  were  n't  afraid  of  being 
thrown  out,  I  take  it.  Great  Scott,  to  think  of  a 
man  of  my  tastes  owning  no  other  horse  than  that !  " 

'  You  have  not  answered  my  question,"  I  sug 
gested,  turning  him  about  and  moving  toward  the 
gate. 

"  Oh,  about  the  way  my  father  looked!  What 
does  that  matter  ?  He  was  handsome,  though. 
Folks  say  that  I  get  whatever  good  looks  I  have 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  79 

from  him.     He  was  big — bigger  than  I  am,  and  while 
he  lived —     What  did  you  make  a  fellow  talk  f or  ?  " 

I  don't  know  why  I  did,  but  I  was  certainly  as 
tonished  at  the  result.  This  great,  huge  lump  of 
selfish  clay  had  actually  shown  feeling  and  was 
ashamed  of  it,  like  the  lout  he  was. 

"  Yesterday,"  said  I,  anxious  to  change  the  sub 
ject,  "  I  had  difficulty  in  getting  in  through  that 
gate  we  are  pointing  for.  Could  n't  you  set  it 
straight,  with  just  a  little  effort  ?  " 

He  paused,  looked  at  me  to  see  if  I  were  in  ear- 
nest,  then  took  a  dogged  step  toward  the  gate  I  was 
still  indicating  with  my  resolute  right  hand,  but 
before  he  could  touch  it  he  perceived  something  on 
that  deserted  and  ominous  highway  which  made 
him  start  in  sudden  surprise* 

"  Why,  Trohm,"  he  cried,  "  is  that  you?  Well, 
it  's  an  age  since  I  have  seen  you  turn  that  corner 
on  a  visit  to  us." 

Some  time,  certainly,"  answered  a  hearty  and 
pleasant  voice,  and  before  I  could  quite  drop  the 
look  of  severity  with  which  I  was  endeavoring  to 
shame  this  young  man  into  some  decent  show  of  in 
terest  in  this  place,  and  assume  the  more  becoming 
aspect  of  a  lady  caught  unawares  at  an  early  morn 
ing  hour  plucking  flowers  from  a  stunted  syringa, 
a  gentleman  stepped  into  sight  on  the  other  side  of 
the  fence  with  a  look  and  a  bow  so  genial  and  de 
void  of  mystery  that  I  experienced  for  the  first  time 


80  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

since  entering  the  gloomy  precincts  of  this  town  a 
decided  sensation  of  pleasure. 

"  Miss  Butterworth,"  explained  Mr.  Knollys  with 
a  somewhat  forced  gesture  in  my  direction.  "  A 
guest  of  my  sisters,"  he  went  on,  and  looked  as  if 
he  hoped  I  would  retire,  though  he  made  no  motion 
to  welcome  Mr.  Trohm  in,  but  rather  leaned  a  little 
conspicuously  on  the  gate  as  if  anxious  to  show  that 
he  had  no  idea  that  the  other's  intention  went  any 
further  than  the  passing  of  a  few  neighborly  com 
ments  at  the  gate. 

I  like  to  please  the  young  even  when  they  are  no 
more  agreeable  than  my  surly  host,  and  if  the 
gentleman  \vho  had  just  shown  himself  had  been 
equally  immature,  I  would  certainly  have  left  them 
to  have  their  talk  out  undisturbed.  But  he  was  not. 
He  was  older;  he  was  even  of  sufficient  years  for 
his  judgment  to  have  become  thoroughly  matured 
and  his  every  faculty  developed.  I  therefore  could 
not  see  why  my  society  should  be  considered  an  in 
trusion  by  him,  so  I  waited.  His  next  sentence  was 
addressed  to  me. 

"  I  am  happy,"  said  he,  "  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
a  personal  introduction  to  Miss  Butterworth.  I  did 
not  expect  it.  The  surprise  is  all  the  more  agreea 
ble.  I  only  anticipated  being  allowed  to  leave  this 
package  and  letter  with  the  maid.  They  are  ad 
dressed  to  you,  madam,  and  were  left  at  my  house 
by  mistake." 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  8 1 

I  could  not  hide  my  astonishment. 

"  I  live  in  the  next  house  below,"  said  he.  '  The 
boy  who  brought  these  from  the  post-office  was  a 
stupid  lad,  and  I  could  not  induce  him  to  come  any 
farther  up  the  road.  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the 
present  messenger  and  believe  there  has  been  no 
delay." 

I  bowed  with  what  must  have  seemed  an  ab 
stracted  politeness.  The  letter  was  from  New  York, 
and,  as  I  strongly  suspected,  from  Mr.  Gryce. 
Somehow  this  fact  created  in  me  an  unmistakable 
embarrassment.  I  put  both  letter  and  package  into 
my  pocket  and  endeavored  to  meet  the  gentleman's 
eye  with  my  accustomed  ease  in  the  presence  of 
strangers.  But,  strange  to  say,  I  had  no  sooner 
done  so  than  I  saw  that  he  was  no  more  at  his  ease 
than  myself.  He  smiled,  glanced  at  William,  made 
an  offhand  remark  or  so  about  the  weather,  but  he 
could  not  deceive  eyes  sharpened  by  such  experi 
ence  as  mine.  Something  disturbed  him,  some 
thing  connected  with  me.  It  made  my  cheek  a 
little  hot  to  acknowledge  this  even  to  myself,  but  it 
was  so  very  evident  that  I  began  to  cast  about  for 
the  means  of  ridding  ourselves  of  William  when  that 
blundering  youth  suddenly  spoke: 

"  I  suppose  he  was  afraid  to  come  up  the  lane. 
Do  you  know,  I  think  you  're  brave  to  attempt  it, 
Trohm.  We  have  n't  a  very  good  name  here." 
And  with  a  sudden,  perfectly  unnatural  burst,  he 


82  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

broke  out  into  one  of  his  huge  guffaws  that  so 
shook  the  old  gate  on  which  he  was  leaning  that  I 
thought  it  would  tumble  down  with  him  before  our 
eyes. 

I  saw  Mr.  Trohm  start  and  cast  him  a  look  in 
which  I  seemed  to  detect  both  surprise  and  horror, 
before  he  turned  to  me  and  with  an  air  of  polite 
deprecation  anxiously  said : 

I  am  afraid  Miss  Butterworth  will  not  under 
stand  your  allusions,  Mr.  Knollys.  I  hear  this  is 
her  first  visit  in  town." 

As  his  manner  showed  even  more  feeling  than  the 
occasion  seemed  to  warrant,  I  made  haste  to  answer 
that  I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  tradition  of  the 
lane ;  that  its  name  alone  showed  what  had  happened 
here. 

His  bearing  betrayed  an  instant  relief. 

'  I  am  glad  to  find  you  so  well  informed/'  said 
he.  '  I  was  afraid  " — here  he  cast  another  very 
strange  glance  at  William — ' '  that  your  young  friends 
might  have  shrunk,  from  some  sense  of  delicacy, 
from  telling  you  what  might  frighten  most  guests 
from  a  lonely  road  like  this.  I  compliment  you 
upon  their  thoughtfulness. " 

William  bowed  as  if  the  words  of  the  other  con 
tained  no  other  suggestion  than  that  which  was 
openly  apparent.  Was  he  so  dull,  or  was  he — I 
had  not  time  to  finish  my  conjectures  even  in  my 
own  mind,  for  at  this  moment  a  quick  cry  rose 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  83 

behind  us,  and  Lucetta's  light  figure  appeared 
running  toward  us  with  every  indication  of  excite 
ment. 

"  Ah,"  murmured  Mr.  Trohm,  with  an  appear 
ance  of  great  respect,  "  your  sister,  Mr.  Knollys. 
I  had  better  be  moving  on.  Good-morning,  Miss 
Butterworth.  I  am  sorry  that  circumstances  make 
it  impossible  for  me  to  offer  you  those  civilities 
which  you  might  reasonably  expect  from  so  near  a 
neighbor.  Miss  Lucetta  and  I  are  at  swords'  points 
over  a  matter  upon  which  I  still  insist  she  is  to 
blame.  See  how  shocked  she  is  to  see  me  even 
standing  at  her  gate." 

Shocked !  I  would  have  said  terrified.  Nothing 
but  fear — her  old  fear  aggravated  to  a  point  that 
made  all  attempt  at  concealment  impossible — could 
account  for  her  white,  drawn  features  and  trembling 
form.  She  looked  as  if  her  whole  thought  was, 
"  Have  I  come  in  time  ?  " 

'  What — what  has  procured  us  the  honor  of  this 
visit  ?  "  she  asked,  moving  up  beside  William  as  if 
she  would  add  her  slight  frame  to  his  bulky  one  to 
keep  this  intruder  out. 

'  Nothing  that  need  alarm  you,"  said  the  other 
with  a  suggestive  note  in  his  kind  and  mellow  voice. 
"  I  was  rather  unexpectedly  intrusted  this  morning 
with  a  letter  for  your  agreeable  guest  here,  and  I 
have  merely  come  to  deliver  it." 

Her  look  of  astonishment  passing  from  him  to 


84  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

me,  I  thrust  my  hand  into  my  pocket  and  drew  out 
the  letter  which  I  had  just  received. 

"  From  home,"  said  I,  without  properly  consider 
ing  that  this  was  in  some  measure  an  untruth. 

"  Oh!  "  she  murmured  as  if  but  half  convinced. 
"  William  could  have  gone  for  it,"  she  added,  still 
eying  Mr.  Trohm  with  a  pitiful  anxiety. 

;<  I  was  only  too  happy,"  said  the  other,  with  a 
low  and  reassuring  bow.  Then,  as  if  he  saw  that 
her  distress  would  only  be  relieved  by  his  departure, 
he  raised  his  hat  and  stepped  back  into  the  open 
highway.  '  I  will  not  intrude  again,  Miss  Knollys," 
were  his  parting  words.  "  If  you  want  anything  of 
Obadiah  Trohm,  you  know  where  to  find  him.  His 
doors  will  always  be  open  to  you." 

Lucetta,  with  a  start,  laid  her  hand  on  her 
brother's  arm  as  if  to  restrain  the  words  she  saw 
slowly  laboring  to  his  lips,  and  leaning  breathlessly 
forward,  watched  the  fine  figure  of  this  perfect 
country  gentleman  till  it  had  withdrawn  quite  out 
of  sight.  Then  she  turned,  and  with  a  quick  aban 
donment  of  all  self-control,  cried  out  with  a  pitiful 
gesture  toward  her  brother,  "  I  thought  all  was 
over;  I  feared  he  meant  to  come  into  the  house," 
and  fell  stark  and  seemingly  lifeless  at  our  feet. 


SECRET  INSTRUCTIONS 

FOR  a  moment  William  and  myself  stood  looking 
at  each   other   over   this   frail   and   prostrate 
figure.     Then  he  stooped,  and  with  an  unexpected 
show  of  kindness  raised  her  up  and  began  carrying 
her  toward  the  house. 

Lucetta  is  a  fool,"  he  cried  suddenly,  stopping 
and  giving  me  a  quick  glance  over  his  shoulder. 
"  Because  folks  are  terrified  of  this  road  and  come 
to  see  us  but  seldom,  she  has  got  to  feel  a  most  un 
reasonable  dread  of  visitors.  She  was  even  set 
against  your  coming  till  we  showed  her  what  folly 
it  was  for  her  to  think  we  could  always  live  here  like 
hermits.  Then  she  does  n't  like  Mr.  Trohm ;  thinks 
he  is  altogether  too  friendly  to  me — as  if  that  was  any 
of  her  business.  Am  I  an  idiot  ?  Have  I  no  sense  ? 
Cannot  I  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  my  own  affairs  and 
keep  my  own  secrets  ?  She  's  a  weak,  silly  chit,  to  go 
and  flop  over  like  this  when,  d — n  it,  we  have  enough 
to  look  after  without  nursing  her  up  and — I  mean," 
he  said,  tripping  himself  up  with  an  air  of  polite  con- 

85 


86  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

sideration  so  out  of  keeping  with  his  usual  churlish 
ness  as  to  be  more  than  noticeable,  "  that  it  cannot 
add  much  to  the  pleasure  of  your  visit  to  have  such 
things  happen  as  this." 

"  Oh,  don't  worry  about  me!  "  I  curtly  responded. 
"  Get  the  poor  girl  in.  I  '11  look  after  her." 

But  as  if  she  heard  these  words  and  was  startled 
by  them,  Lucetta  roused  in  her  brother's  arms  and 
struggled  passionately  to  her  feet.  "  Oh!  what  has 
happened  to  me  ?  "  she  cried.  '  Have  I  said  any 
thing  ?  William,  have  I  said  anything  ?  "  she  asked 
wildly,  clinging  to  her  brother  in  terror. 

He  gave  her  a  look  and  pushed  her  off. 
'  What  are  you  talking  about  ?  "  he  cried.     "  One 
would  think  you  had  something  to  conceal." 

She  steadied  herself  up  in  an  instant. 

I  am  the  weakest  of  the  family,"  said  she,  walk 
ing  straight  up  to  me  and  taking  me  affectionately 
by  the  arm.  "  All  my  life  I  have  been  delicate  and 
these  turns  are  nothing  new  to  me.  Sometimes  I 
think  I  will  die  in  one  of  them ;  but  I  am  quite  re 
stored  now,"  she  hastily  added,  as  I  could  not  help 
showing  my  concern.  "  See!  I  can  walk  quite 
alone."  And  she  ran,  rather  than  walked,  up  the 
few  short  steps  of  the  porch,  at  which  we  had  now 
arrived.  ;<  Don't  tell  Loreen,"  she  begged,  as  I 
followed  her  into  the  house.  "  She  worries  so 
about  me,  and  it  will  do  no  good." 

William  had  stalked  off  toward  the  stables.     We 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  87 

were  therefore  alone.  I  turned  and  laid  a  finger  on 
her  arm. 

"  My  dear,"  said  I,  "I  never  make  foolish 
promises,  but  I  can  be  trusted  never  to  heedlessly 
slight  any  one's  wishes.  If  I  see  no  good  reason 
why  I  should  tell  your  sister  of  this  fainting  fit,  I 
shall  certainly  hold  my  peace." 

She  seemed  moved  by  my  manner,  if  not  by  my 
words. 

"  Oh,"  she  cried,  seizing  my  hand  and  pressing 
it.  "  If  I  dared  to  tell  you  of  my  troubles!  But  it 
is  impossible,  quite  impossible."  And  before  I 
could  urge  a  plea  for  her  confidence  she  was  gone, 
leaving  me  in  the  company  of  Hannah,  who  at  this 
moment  was  busying  herself  with  something  at  the 
other  end  of  the  hall. 

I  had  no  wish  to  interfere  with  Hannah  just  then. 
I  had  my  letter  to  read,  and  did  not  wish  to  be  dis 
turbed.  So  I  slipped  into  the  sitting-room  and 
carefully  closed  the  door.  Then  I  opened  my  letter. 

It  was,  as  I  supposed,  from  Mr.  Gryce,  and  ran 
thus : 

"  DEAR  Miss  BUTTERWORTH: 

"  I  am  astonished  at  your  determination,  but  since 
your  desire  to  visit  your  friends  is  such  as  to  lead 
you  to  brave  the  dangers  of  Lost  Man's  Lane,  allow 
me  to  suggest  certain  precautions. 
'  First. — Do  not  trust  anybody. 

"  Second. — Do  not  proceed  anywhere  alone  or  on 
foot. 


88  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

1  Third. — If  danger  comes  to  you,  and  you  find 
yourself  in  a  condition  of  real  peril,  blow  once 
shrilly  on  the  whistle  I  inclose  with  this.  If,  how 
ever,  the  danger  is  slight,  or  you  wish  merely  to  call 
the  attention  of  those  who  will  be  set  to  watch  over 
you,  let  the  blast  be  short,  sharp,  and  repeated— 
twice  to  summon  assistance,  three  times  to  call  at 
tention. 

I  advise  you  to  fasten  this  whistle  about  your 
neck  in  a  way  to  make  it  easily  obtainable. 

I  have  advised  you  to  trust  nobody.  I  should 
have  excepted  Mr.  Trohm,  but  I  do  not  think  you 
will  be  given  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  him.  Re 
member  that  all  depends  upon  your  not  awakening 
suspicion.  If,  however,  you  wish  advice  or  desire 
to  make  any  communication  to  me  or  the  man 
secretly  holding  charge  over  this  affair  in  X. ,  seek  the 
first  opportunity  of  riding  into  town  and  go  at  once 
to  the  hotel  where  you  will  ask  for  Room  3.  It  has 
been  retained  in  your  service,  and  once  shown  into 
it,  you,  may  expect  a  visitor  who  will  be  the  man 
you  seek. 

As  you  will  see,  every  confidence  is  put  in  your 
judgment." 

There  was  no  signature  to  this — it  needed  none — 
and  in  the  packet  which  came  with  it  was  the 
whistle.  I  was  glad  to  see  it,  and  glad  to  hear  that 
I  was  not  left  entirely  without  protection  in  my 
somewhat  hazardous  enterprise. 

The  events  of  the  morning  had  been  so  unex 
pected  that  till  this  moment  I  had  forgotten  my 
early  determination  to  go  to  my  room  before  any 


THE  K NOLLYS. FAMILY  89 

change  there  could  be  made.  Recalling  it  now,  I 
started  for  the  staircase,  and  did  not  stop  though  I 
heard  Hannah  calling  me  back.  The  consequence 
was  that  I  ran  full  tilt  against  Miss  Knollys  coming 
down  the  hall  with  a  tray  in  her  hand. 

"  Ah,"  I  cried ;  "  some  one  sick  in  the  house  ?  " 

The  attack  was  too  sudden.  I  saw  her  recoil  and 
for  one  instant  hesitate  before  replying.  Then  her 
natural  self-possession  came  to  her  aid,  and  she 
placidly  remarked : 

'  We  were  all  up  to  a  late  hour  last  night,  as 
you  know.  It  was  necessary  for  us  to  have  some 
food." 

I  accepted  the  explanation  and  made  no  further 
remark,  but  as  in  passing  her  I  had  detected  on  this 
tray  of  food  supposed  to  have  been  sent  up  the 
night  before,  the  half-eaten  portion  of  a  certain  dish 
we  had  had  for  breakfast,  I  reserved  to  myself  the 
privilege  of  doubting  her  exact  truthfulness.  To 
me  the  sight  of  this  partially  consumed  breakfast 
was  proof  positive  of  there  being  in  the  house  some 
person  of  whose  presence  I  was  supposed  to  be 
ignorant — not  a  pleasant  thought  under  the  circum 
stances,  but  quite  an  important  fact  to  have  estab 
lished.  I  felt  that  in  this  one  discovery  I  had 
clutched  the  thread  that  would  yet  lead  me  out  of 
the  labyrinth  of  this  mystery. 

Miss  Knollys,  who  was  on  her  way  down-stairs, 
called  Hannah  to  take  the  tray,  and,  coming  back, 


go  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

beckoned  me  toward  a  door  opening  into  one  of  the 
front  rooms. 

'  This  is  to  be  your  room,"  she  announced,  "  but 
I  do  not  know  that  I  can  move  you  to-day." 

She  was  so  calm,  so  perfectly  mistress  of  herself, 
that  I  could  not  but  admire  her.  Lucetta  would 
have  flushed  and  fidgeted,  but  Loreen  stood  as 
erect  and  placid  as  if  no  trouble  weighed  upon  her 
heart  and  the  words  were  as  unimportant  in  their 
character  as  they  seemed. 

"  Do  not  distress  yourself,"  said  I.  '  I  told 
Lucetta  last  night  that  I  was  perfectly  comfortable 
and  had  no  wish  to  change  my  quarters.  I  am 
sorry  you  should  have  thought  it  necessary  to  dis 
turb  yourself  on  my  account  last  night.  Don't  do 
it  again,  I  pray.  A  woman  like  myself  had  rather 
put  herself  to  some  slight  inconvenience  than  move. 

:<  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  she,  and  came 
at  once  from  the  door.  I  don't  know  but  after  all 
I  like  Lucetta's  fidgety  ways  better  than  Loreen's 
unmovable  self-possession. 

"  Shall  I  order  the  coach  for  you  ? "  she  suddenly 
asked,  as  I  turned  toward  the  corridor  leading  to  my 
room. 

"  The  coach  ?"  I  repeated. 

'  I  thought  that  perhaps  you  might  like  to  ride 
into  town.  Mr.  Simsbury  is  at  leisure  this  morning. 
I  regret  that  neither  Lucetta  nor  myself  will  be  able 
to  accompany  you." 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  91 

I  thought  what  this  same  Mr.  Simsbury  had  said 
about  Lucetta's  plan,  and  hesitated.  It  was  evi 
dently  their  wish  to  have  me  spend  my  morning 
elsewhere  than  with  them.  Should  I  humor  them, 
or  find  excuses  for  remaining  home  ?  Either  course 
had  its  difficulties.  If  I  went,  what  might  not  take 
place  in  my  absence !  If  I  remained,  what  suspicions 
might  I  not  rouse!  I  decided  to  compromise  mat 
ters,  and  start  for  town  even  if  I  did  not  go  there. 

"  I  am  hesitating,"  said  I,  "  because  of  the  two 
or  three  rather  threatening-looking  clouds  toward 
the  east.  But  if  you  are  sure  Mr.  Simsbury  can  be 
spared,  I  think  I  will  risk  it.  I  really  would  like  to 
get  a  key  for  my  door;  and  then  riding  in  the 
country  is  so  pleasant." 

Miss  Knollys,  with  a  bow,  passed  immediately 
down-stairs.  I  went  in  a  state  of  some  doubt  toward 
my  own  room.  "Am  I  surveying  these  occurrences 
through  highly  magnifying  glasses?"  thought  I. 
It  was  very  possible,  yet  not  so  possible  but  that  I 
cast  very  curious  glances  at  the  various  closed  doors 
I  had  to  pass  before  reaching  my  own.  Such  a  little 
thing  would  make  me  feel  like  trying  them.  Such 
a  little  thing — that  is,  added  to  the  other  things 
which  had  struck  me  as  unexplainable. 

I  found  my  bed  made  and  everything  in  apple-pie 
order.  I  had  therefore  nothing  to  do  but  to  prepare 
for  going  out.  This  I  did  quickly,  and  was  down 
stairs  sooner  perhaps  than  I  was  expected.  At  all 


Q2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

events  Lucetta  and  William  parted  very  suddenly 
when  they  saw  me,  she  in  tears  and  he  with  a  dogged 
shrug  and  some  such  word  as  this : 

"  You  're  a  fool  to  take  on  so.  Since  it  's  got  to 
be,  the  sooner  the  better,  I  say.  Don't  you  see 
that  every  minute  makes  less  our  chances  of  conceal 
ment  ?" 

It  made  me  feel  like  changing  my  mind  and  stay 
ing  home.  But  the  habit  of  a  lifetime  is  not  easily 
broken  into.  I  kept  to  my  first  decision. 


XI 

MEN,    WOMEN,   AND   GHOSTS 

MR.  SIMSBURY  gave  me  quite  an  amiable  bow 
as  I  entered  the  buggy.  This  made  it  easy 
for  me  to  say : 

"  You  are  on  hand  early  this  morning.  Do  you 
sleep  in  the  Knollys  house  ?  " 

The  stare  he  gave  me  had  the  least  bit  of  suspicion 
in  it. 

"  I  live  over  yonder,"  he  said,  pointing  with  his 
whip  across  the  intervening  woods  to  the  main  road. 
"  I  come  through  the  marshes  to  my  breakfast;  my 
old  woman  says  they  owes  me  three  meals,  and 
three  meals  I  must  have." 

It  was  the  longest  sentence  with  which  he  had 
honored  me.  Finding  him  in  a  talkative  mood,  I 
prepared  to  make  myself  agreeable,  a  proceeding 
which  he  seemed  to  appreciate,  for  he  began  to  sniff 
and  pay  great  attention  to  his  horse,  which  he  was 
elaborately  turning  about. 

"  Why  do  you  go  that  way  ?  "  I  protested.  "  Is 
n't  it  the  longest  way  to  the  village  ?  " 

"  It  's  the  way  I  'm  most  accustomed  to,"  said 

93 


94  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

he.  "  But  we  can  go  the  other  way  if  you  like. 
Perhaps  we  will  get  a  glimpse  of  Deacon  Spear. 
He  's  a  widower,  you  know." 

The  leer  with  which  he  said  this  was  intolerable. 
I  bridled  up — but  no,  I  will  not  admit  that  I  so 
much  as  manifested  by  my  manner  that  I  under 
stood  him.  I  merely  expressed  my  wish  to  go  the 
old  way. 

He  whipped  up  the  horse  at  once,  almost  laugh 
ing  outright.  I  began  to  think  this  man  capable  of 
most  any  wicked  deed.  He  was  forced,  however, 
to  pull  up  suddenly.  Directly  in  our  path  was  the 
stooping  figure  of  a  woman.  She  did  not  move  as 
we  advanced,  and  so  we  had  no  alternative  but  to 
stop.  Not  till  the  horse's  head  touched  her  shoulder 
did  she  move.  Then  she  rose  up  and  looked  at  us 
somewhat  indignantly. 

"  Did  n't  you  hear  us  ?  "  I  asked,  willing  to  open 
conversation  with  the  old  crone,  whom  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  recognizing  as  Mother  Jane. 

She  's  deaf — deaf,  as  a  post,"  muttered  Mr. 
Simsbury.  ;<  No  use  shouting  at  her."  His  tone 
was  brusque,  yet  I  noticed  he  waited  with  great 
patience  for  her  to  hobble  out  of  the  way. 

Meanwhile  I  was  watching  the  old  creature  with 
much  interest.  She  had  not  a  common  face  or  a 
common  manner.  She  was  gray,  she  was  toothless, 
she  was  haggard,  and  she  was  bent,  but  she  was  not 
ordinary  or  just  one  of  the  crowd  of  old  women  to 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  95 

be  seen  on  country  doorsteps.  There  was  force  in 
her  aged  movements  and  a  strong  individuality  in 
the  glances  she  shot  at  us  as  she  backed  slowly  out 
of  the  roadway. 

Do  they  say  she  is  imbecile  ?  "  I  asked.  "  She 
looks  far  from  foolish  to  me." 

Hearken  a  bit,"  said  he.  '  Don't  you  see  she 
is  muttering  ?  She  talks  to  herself  all  the  time." 
And  in  fact  her  lips  were  moving. 

I  cannot  hear  her,"  I  said.  '  Make  her  come 
nearer.  Somehow  the  old  creature  interests  me." 

He  at  once  beckoned  to  the  crone ;  but  he  might 
as  well  have  beckoned  to  the  tree  against  which  she 
had  pushed  herself.  She  neither  answered  him  nor 
gave  any  indication  that  she  understood  the  gesture 
he  had  made.  Yet  her  eyes  never  moved  from  our 
faces. 

"  Well,  well,"  said  I,  "  she  seems  dull  as  well  as 
deaf.  You  had  better  drive  on."  But  before  he 
could  give  the  necessary  jerk  of  the  reins,  I  caught 
sight  of  some  pennyroyal  growing  about  the  front 
of  the  cottage  a  few  steps  beyond,  and,  pointing  to 
it  with  some  eagerness,  I  cried:  "  If  there  isn't 
some  of  the  very  herb  I  want  to  take  home  with 
me!  Do  you  think  she  would  give  me  a  handful  of 
it  if  I  paid  her  ?  " 

With  an  obliging  grunt  he  again  pulled  up.  '  If 
you  can  make  her  understand,"  said  he. 

I  thought  it  worth  the  effort.     Though  Mr.  Gryce 


96  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

had  been  at  pains  to  tell  me  there  was  no  harm  in 
this  woman  and  that  I  need  not  even  consider  her  in 
any  inquiries  I  might  be  called  upon  to  make,  I  re 
membered  that  Mr.  Gryce  had  sometimes  made 
mistakes  in  just  such  matters  as  these,  and  that 
Amelia  Butterworth  had  then  felt  herself  called 
upon  to  set  him  right.  If  that  could  happen  once, 
why  not  twice  ?  At  all  events,  I  was  not  going  to 
lose  the  least  chance  of  making  the  acquaintance  of 
the  people  living  in  this  lane.  Had  he  not  himself 
said  that  only  in  this  way  could  we  hope  to  come 
upon  the  clue  that  had  eluded  all  open  efforts  to 
find  it  ? 

Knowing  that  the  sight  of  money  is  the  strongest 
appeal  that  can  be  made  to  one  living  in  such  ab 
ject  poverty  as  this  woman,  making  the  blind  to  see 
and  the  deaf  to  hear,  I  drew  out  my  purse  and  held 
up  before  her  a  piece  of  silver.  She  bounded  as  if 
she  had  been  shot,  and  when  I  held  it  toward  her 
came  greedily  forward  and  stood  close  beside  the 
wheels  looking  up. 

"  For  you,"  I  indicated,  after  making  a  ^motion 
toward  the  plant  which  had  attracted  my  attention. 

She  glanced  from  me  to  the  herb  and  nodde^l  with 
quick  appreciation.  As  in  a  flash  she  seemed  to 
take  in  the  fact  that  I  was  a  stranger,  a  city  lady 
with  memories  of  the  country  and  this  humble 
plant,  and  hurrying  to  it  with  the  same  swiftness 
she  had  displayed  in  advancing  to  the  carriage, 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  97 

she  tore  off  several  of  the  sprays  and  brought 
them  back  to  me,  holding  out  her  hand  for  the 
money. 

I  had  never  seen  greater  eagerness,  and  I  think 
even  Mr.  Simsbury  was  astonished  at  this  proof  of 
her  poverty  or  her  greed.  I  was  inclined  to  think 
it  the  latter,  for  her  portly  figure  was  far  from  look 
ing  either  ill-fed  or  poorly  cared  for.  Her  dress  was 
of  decent  calico,  and  her  pipe  had  evidently  been 
lately  filled,  for  I  could  smell  the  odor  of  tobacco 
about  her.  Indeed,  as  I  afterward  heard,  the  good 
people  of  X.  had  never  allowed  her  to  suffer.  Yet 
her  fingers  closed  upon  that  coin  as  if  in  it  she 
grasped  the  salvation  of  her  life,  and  into  her  eyes 
leaped  a  light  that  made  her  look  almost  young, 
though  she  must  have  been  fully  eighty. 

What  do  you  suppose  she  will  do  with  that  ?  "  I 
asked  Mr.  Simsbury,  as  she  turned  away  in  an  evi 
dent  fear  I  might  repent  of  my  bargain. 

Hark!  "  was  his  brief  response.  "  She  is  talk 
ing  now." 

I  did  hearken,  and  heard  these  words  fall  from  her 
quickly  moving  lips : 

"  Seventy;  twenty-eight;  and  now  ten." 

Jargon ;  for  I  had  given  her  twenty-five  cents,  an 

amount  quite  different  from  any  she  had  mentioned. 

Seventy ! ' '     She  was  repeating  the  figures  again, 

this    time    in    a   tone    of   almost    frenzied    elation. 

Seventy;    twenty-eight;   and    now    ten!     Won't 


98  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Lizzie  be  surprised !  Seventy;  twenty — "  L.  heard 
no  more — she  had  bounded  into  her  cottage  and 
shut  the  door.  ,» 

'  Waal,    what    do    you    think    of    her   now  ? " 
chuckled    Mr.    Simsbury,    touching    up   his   horse. 

She  's  always  like  that,  saying  over  numbers,  and 
muttering  about  Lizzie.  Lizzie  was  her  daughter. 
Forty  years  ago  she  ran  off  with  a  man  from  Bos 
ton,  and  for  thirty-eight  years  she  's  been  lying  in  a 
Massachusetts  grave.  But  her  mother  still  thinks 
she  is  alive  and  is  coming  back.  Nothing  will  ever 
make  her  think  different.  But  she  's  harmless,  per 
fectly  harmless.  You  need  n't  be  afeard  of  her." 

This,  because  I  cast  a  look  behind  me  of  more 
than  ordinary  curiosity,  I  suppose.  Why  were  they 
all  so  sure  she  was  harmless  ?  I  had  thought  her 
expression  a  little  alarming  at  times,  especially  when 
she  took  the  money  from  my  hand.  If  I  had  re 
fused  it  or  even  held  it  back  a  little,  I  think  she 
would  have  fallen  upon  me  tooth  and  nail.  I  wished 
I  could  take  a  peep  into  her  cottage.  Mr.  Gryce 
had  described  it  as  four  walls  and  nothing  more, 
and  indeed  it  was  small  and  of  the  humblest  propor 
tions;  but  the  fluttering  of  some  half-dozen  pigeons 
about  its  eaves  proved  it  to  be  a  home  and,  as  such, 
of  interest  to  me,  who  am  often  able  to  read  charac 
ter  from  a  person's  habitual  surroundings. 

There  was  no  yard  attached  to  this  simple  build 
ing,  only  a  small  open  place  in  front  in  which  a  few 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  99 

of  the  commonest  vegetables  grew,  such  as  turnips, 
carrots,  and  onions.  Elsewhere  towered  the  forest 
— the  great  pine  forest  through  which  this  portion 
of  the  road  ran. 

Mr.  Simsbury  had  been  so  talkative  up  to  now 
that  I  was  in  hope  he  would  enter  into  some  details 
about  the  persons  and  things  we  encountered,  which 
might  assist  me  in  the  acquaintanceship  I  was  anx 
ious  to  make.  But  his  loquaciousness  ended  with 
this  small  adventure  I  have  just  described.  Not  till 
we  were  well  quit  of  the  pines  and  had  entered  into 
the  main  thoroughfare  did  he  deign  to  respond  to 
any  of  my  suggestions,  and  then  it  was  in  a  manner 
totally  unsatisfactory  and  quite  uncommunicative. 
The  only  time  he  deigned  to  offer  a  remark  was 
when  we  emerged  from  the  forest  and  came  upon 
the  little  crippled  child,  looking  from  its  window. 
Then  he  cried : 

"  Why,  how  's  this  ?  That  's  Sue  you  see  there, 
and  her  time  is  n't  till  arternoon.  Rob  allers  sits 
there  of  a  mornin'.  I  wonder  if  the  little  chap  's 
sick.  S'pose  I  ask." 

As  this  was  just  what  I  would  have  suggested  if 
he  had  given  me  time,  I  nodded  complacently,  and 
we  drove  up  and  stopped. 

The  piping  voice  of  the  child  at  once  spoke  up : 

"  How  d'  ye  do,  Mr.  Simsbury  ?  Ma  's  in  the 
kitchen.  Rob  is  n't  feelin'  good  to-day." 

I  thought  her  tone  had  a  touch  of  mysteriousness 


100  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

in  it.     I  greeted  the  pale  little  thing,  and  asked  if 
Rob  was  often  sick. 

"  Never,"  she  answered,  "  except,  like  me,  he 
can't  walk.  But  I  'm  not  to  talk  about  it,  ma 
says.  I  'd  like  to,  but " 

Ma's  face  appearing  at  this  moment  over  her 
shoulder  put  an  end  to  her  innocent  garrulity. 

"  How  d'  ye  do,  Mr.  Simsbury  ?  "  came  a  second 
time  from  the  window,  but  this  time  in  very  differ 
ent  tones.  '  What  's  the  child  been  saying  ? 
She  's  so  sot  up  at  being  allowed  to  take  her 
brother's  place  in  the  winder  that  she  don't  know 
how  to  keep  her  tongue  still.  Rob  's  a  little  lan 
guid,  that  's  all.  You  '11  see  him  in  his  old  place 
to-morrow."  And  she  drew  back  as  if  in  polite  in 
timation  that  we  might  drive  on. 

Mr.  Simsbury  responded  to  the  suggestion,  and 
in  another  moment  we  were  trotting  down  the  road. , 
Had  we  stayed  a  minute  longer,  I  think  the  child 
would  have  said  something  more  or  less  interesting 
to  hear. 

The  horse,  which  had  brought  us  thus  far  at  a 
pretty  sharp  trot,  now  began  to  lag,  which  so  at 
tracted  Mr.  Simsbury's  attention,  that  he  forgot  to 
answer  even  by  a  grunt  more  than  half  of  my  ques 
tions.  He  spent  most  of  his  time  looking  at  the 
nag's  hind  feet,  and  finally,  just  as  we  came  in  sight 
of  the  stores,  he  found  his  tongue  sufficiently  to 
announce  that  the  horse  was  casting  a  shoe  and  that 


THE  KNOLL  YS   FAMi'I  V  IGI 

he  would  be  obliged  to  go  to  the  blacksmith's  with 
her. 

"  Humph,  and  how  long  will  that  take  ?  "  I  asked. 

He  hesitated  so  long,  rubbing  his  nose  with  his 
finger,  that  I  grew  suspicious  and  cast  a  glance  at 
the  horse's  foot  myself.  The  shoe  was  loose.  I 
began  to  hear  it  clang. 

"  Waal,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  a  couple  of  hours," 
he  finally  drawled.  "  We  have  no  blacksmith  in 
town,  and  the  ride  up  there  is  two  miles.  Sorry  it 
happened,  ma'am,  but  there  's  all  sorts  of  shops 
here,  you  see,  and  I  've  allers  heard  that  a  woman 
can  easily  spend  two  hours  haggling  away  in  shops." 

I  glanced  at  the  two  ill-furnished  windows  he 
pointed  out,  thought  of  Arnold  &  Constable's, 
Tiffany's,  and  the  other  New  York  establishments 
I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting,  and  suppressed 
my  disdain.  Either  the  man  was  a  fool  or  he  .was 
acting  a  part  in  the  interests  of  Lucetta  and  her 
family.  I  rather  inclined  to  the  latter  supposition. 
If  the  plan  was  to  keep  me  out  most  of  the  morning 
why  could  that  shoe  not  have  been  loosened  before 
the  mare  left  the  stable  ? 

'  I  made  all  necessary  purchases  while  in  New 
York,"  said  I,  "  but  if  you  must  get  the  horse  shod, 
why,  take  her  off  and  do  it.  I  suppose  there  is  a 
hotel  parlor  near  here  where  I  can  sit." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  and  he  made  haste  to  point  out  to 
me  where  the  hotel  stood.  "  And  it  's  a  very  nice 


102 


LOST  MAN'S  LANE 


place,  ma'am.  Mrs.  Carter,  the  landlady,  is  the 
nicest  sort  of  person.  Only  you  won't  try  to  go 
home,  ma'am,  on  foot  ?  You  '11  wait  till  I  come 
back  for  you  ?  " 

It  is  n't  likely  I  '11  go  streaking  through  Lost 
Man's  Lane  alone,"  I  exclaimed  indignantly.  "  I  'd 
rather  sit  in  Mrs.  Carter's  parlor  till  night." 

"  And  I  would  advise  you  to,"  he  said.  "  No 
use  making  gossip  for  the  village  folks.  They  have 
enough  to  talk  about  as  it  is." 

Not  exactly  seeing  the  force  of  this  reasoning, 
but  quite  willing  to  be  left  to  my  own  devices  for  a 
little  while,  I  pointed  to  a  locksmith's  shop  I  saw 
near  by,  and  bade  him  put  me  down  there. 

With  a  sniff  I  declined  to  interpret  into  a  token 
of  disapproval,  he  drove  me  up  to  the  shop  and 
awkwardly  assisted  me  to  alight. 

'  Trunk  key  missing  ?  "  he  ventured  to  inquire 
before  getting  back  into  his  seat. 

I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  reply,  but  walked 
immediately  into  the  shop.  He  looked  dissatisfied 
at  this,  but  whatever  his  feelings  were  he  refrained 
from  any  expression  of  them,  and  presently  mounted 
to  his  place  and  drove  off.  I  was  left  confronting 
the  decent  man  who  represented  the  lock-fitting  in 
terests  in  X. 

I  found  some  difficulty  in  broaching  my  errand. 
Finally  I  said : 

Miss  Knollys,  who  lives  up  the  road,  wishes  a 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  103 

key  fitted  to  one  of  her  doors.  Will  you  come  or 
send  a  man  to  her  house  to-day  ?  She  is  too  oc 
cupied  to  see  about  it  herself." 

The  man  must  have  been  struck  by  my  appear 
ance,  for  he  stared  at  me  quite  curiously  for  a  min 
ute.  Then  he  gave  a  hem  and  a  haw  and  said : 

"  Certainly.  What  kind  of  a  door  is  it  ?  "  When 
I  had  answered,  he  gave  me  another  curious  glance 
and  seemed  uneasy  to  step  back  to  where  his  assist 
ant  was  working  with  a  file. 

"  You  will  be  sure  to  come  in  time  to  have  the 
lock  fitted  before  night  ?  "  I  said  in  that  peremptory 
manner  of  mine  which  means  simply,  "  I  keep  my 
promises  and  expect  you  to  keep  yours." 

His  "  Certainly  "  struck  me  as  a  little  weaker  this 
time,  possibly  because  his  curiosity  was  excited. 
"  Are  you  the  lady  from  New  York  who  is  staying 
with  them  ?  "  he  asked,  stepping  back,  seemingly 
quite  unawed  by  my  positive  demeanor. 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  thawing  a  trifle ;  "  I  am  Miss  But- 
terworth." 

He  looked  at  me  almost  as  if  I  were  a  curiosity. 

"  And  did  you  sleep  there  last  night  ?  "  he  urged. 

I  thought  it  best  to  thaw  still  more. 

II  Of  course,"  I  said.       '  Where  do  you  think  I 
would    sleep  ?      The   young  ladies    are    friends  of 
mine." 

He  rapped  abstractedly  on  the  counter  with  a 
small  key  he  was  holding. 


IO4  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  Excuse  me,"  said  he,  with  some  remembrance 
of  my  position  toward  him  as  a  stranger,  "  but 
were  n't  you  afraid  ? " 

"  Afraid  ?  "  I  echoed.  "  Afraid  in  Miss  Knollys' 
house  ?  " 

'  Why,  then,  do  you  want  a  key  to  your  door  ?  " 
he  asked,  with  a  slight  appearance  of  excitement. 

We  don't  lock  doors  here  in  the  village;  at  least 
we  did  n't." 

I  did  not  say  it  was  my  door,"  I  began,  but, 
feeling  that  this  was  a  prevarication  not  only  un 
worthy  of  me,  but  one  that  he  was  entirely  too 
sharp  to  accept,  I  added  stiffly:  "  It  is  for  my  door. 
I  am  not  accustomed  even  at  home  to  sleep  with 
my  room  unlocked." 

"  Oh,"  he  murmured,  totally  unconvinced,  "  I 
thought  you  might  have  got  a  scare.  Folks  some 
how  are  afraid  of  that  old  place,  it  's  so  big  and  ghost 
like. .  I  don't  think  you  would  find  any  one  in  this 
village  who  would  sleep  there  all  night." 

"  A  pleasing  preparation  for  my  rest  to-night,"  I 
grimly  laughed.  "  Dangers  on  the  road  and  ghosts 
in  the  house.  Happily  I  don't  believe  in  the  latter. ' ' 

The  gesture  he  made  showed  incredulity.  He 
had  ceased  rapping  with  the  key  or  even  to  show 
any  wish  to  join  his  assistant.  All  his  thoughts  for 
the  moment  seemed  to  be  concentrated  on  me. 

'  You  don't  know  little  Rob,"  he  inquired,  "  the 
crippled  lad  who  lives  at  the  head  of  the  lane  ?  " 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  10$ 

"  No,"  I  said;  "  I  have  n't  been  in  town  a  day 
yet,  but  I  mean  to  know  Rob  and  his  sister  too. 
Two  cripples  in  one  family  rouse  my  interest." 

He  did  not  say  why  he  had  spoken  of  the  child, 
but  began  tapping  with  his  key  again. 

"  And  you  are  sure  you  saw  nothing  ? "  he  whis 
pered.  ;<  Lots  of  things  can  happen  in  a  lonely 
road  like  that." 

"  Not  if  everybody  is  as  afraid  to  enter  it  as  you 
say  your  villagers  are,"  I  retorted. 

But  he  did  n't  yield  a  jot. 

"  Some  folks  don't  mind  present  dangers,"  said 
he.  "  Spirits — 

But  he  received  no  encouragement  in  his  return 
to  this  topic.  'You  don't  believe  in  spirits?" 
said  he.  '  Well,  they  are  doubtful  sort  of  folks,  but 
when  honest  and  respectable  people  such  as  live  in 
this  town,  when  Children  even,  see  what  answers  to 
nothing  but  phantoms,  then  I  remember  what  a 
wiser  man  than  any  of  us  once  said —  But  perhaps 
you  don't  read  Shakespeare,  madam  ?  " 

Nonplussed  for  the  moment,  but  interested  in  the 
man's  talk  more  than  was  consistent  with  my  need 
of  haste,  I  said  with  some  spirit,  for  it  struck  me  as 
very  ridiculous  that  this  country  mechanic  should 
question  my  knowledge  of  the  greatest  dramatist  of 
all  time,  "  Shakespeare  and  the  Bible  form  the 
staple  of  my  reading."  At  which  he  gave  me  a 
little  nod  of  apology  and  hastened  to  say: 


106  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  Then  you  know  what  I  mean — Hamlet's  remark 
to  Horatio,  madam,  '  There  are  more  things,'  etc. 
Your  memory  will  readily  supply  you  with  the 
words." 

I  signified  my  satisfaction  and  perfect  comprehen 
sion  of  his  meaning,  and,  feeling  that  something  im 
portant  lay  behind  his  words,  I  endeavored  to  make 
him  speak  more  explicitly. 

The  Misses  Knollys  show  no  terror  of  their 
home,"  I  observed.  '  They  cannot  believe  in 
spirits  either." 

"  Miss  Knollys  is  a  woman  of  a  great  deal  of 
character,"  said  he.  "  But  look  at  Lucetta.  There 
is  a  face  for  you,  for  a  girl  not  yet  out  of  her  twen 
ties  ;  and  such  a  round-cheeked  lass  as  she  was  once ! 
Now  what  has  made  the  change  ?  The  sights  and 
sounds  of  that  old  house,  I  say.  Nothing  else 
would  give  her  that  scared  look — nothing  merely 
mortal,  I  mean." 

This  was  going  a  step  too  far.  I  could  not  discuss 
Lucetta  with  this  stranger,  anxious  as  I  was  to  hear 
what  he  had  to  say  about  her. 

"  I  don't  know,"  I  remonstrated,  taking  up  my 
black  satin  bag,  without  which  I  never  stir.  .  "One 
would  think  the  terrors  of  the  lane  she  lives  iri  might 
account  for  some  appearance  of  fear  on  her  part." 

"  So  it  might,"  he  assented,  but  with  -no  great 
heartiness.  '  But  Lucetta  has  never  spoken  of 
those  dangers.  The  people  in  the  lane  do  no?Tseem 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  1 07 

to  fear  them.  Even  Deacon  Spear  says  that,  set 
aside  the  wickedness  of  the  thing,  he  rather  enjoys 
the  quiet  which  the  ill  repute  of  the  lane  gives  him. 
I  don't  understand  this  indifference  myself.  I  have 
no  relish  for  horrible  mysteries  or  for  ghosts  either." 

"  You  won't  forget  the  key  ?  "  I  suggested  shortly, 
preparing  to  walk  out,  in  my  dread  lest  he  should 
again  introduce  the  subject  of  Lucetta. 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  won't  forget  it."  His  tone 
should  have  warned  me  that  I  need  not  expect  to 
have  a  locked  door  that  night. 


XII 

THE   PHANTOM   COACH 

HOSTS !  What  could  the  fellow  have  meant  ? 
If  I  had  pressed  him  he  would  have  told  me, 
but  it  did  not  seem  quite  a  lady's  business  to  pick 
up  information  in  this  way,  especially  when  it  in 
volved  a  young  lady  like  Lucetta.  Yet  did  I  think 
I  would  ever  come  to  the  end  of  this  matter  without 
involving  Lucetta  ?  No.  Why,  then,  did  I  allow 
my  instincts  to  triumph  over  my  judgment  ?  Let 
those  answer  who  understand  the  workings  of  the 
human  heart.  I  am  simply  stating  facts. 

Ghosts!  Somehow  the  word  startled  me  as  if  in 
some  way  it  gave  a  rather  unwelcome  confirmation 
to  my  doubts.  Apparitions  seen  in  the  Knollys 
mansion  or  in  any  of  the  houses  bordering  on  this 
lane !  That  was  a  serious  charge ;  how  serious  seemed 
to  be  but  half  comprehended  by  this  man.  But  I 
comprehended  it  to  the  full,  and  wondered  if  it  was 
on  account  of  such  gossip  as  this  that  Mr.  Gryce 
had  persuaded  me  to  enter  Miss  Knollys'  house  as  a 
guest. 

I  was  crossing  the  street  to  the  hotel  as  I  indulged 
in  these  conjectures,  and  intent  as  my  mind  was 

108 


THE   K NOLLYS  FAMILY  109 

upon  them,  I  could  not  but  note  the  curiosity  and 
interest  which  my  presence  excited  in  the  simple 
country  folk  invariably  to  be  found  lounging  about 
a  country  tavern.  Indeed,  the  whole  neighborhood 
seemed  agog,  and  though  I  would  have  thought  it 
derogatory  to  my  dignity  to  notice  the  fact,  I  could 
not  but  see  how  many  faces  were  peering  at  me  from 
store  doors  and  the  half-closed  blinds  of  adjoining 
cottages.  No  young  girl  in  the  pride  of  her  beauty 
could  have  awakened  more  interest,  and  this  I  attrib 
uted,  as  was  no  doubt  right,  not  to  my  appearance, 
which  would  not  perhaps  be  apt  to  strike  these 
simple  villagers  as  remarkable,  or  to  my  dress,  which 
is  rather  rich  than  fashionable,  but  to  the  fact  that 
I  was  a  stranger  in  town,  and,  what  was  more  ex 
traordinary,  a  guest  of  the  Misses  Knollys. 

My  intention  in  approaching  the  hotel  was  not  to 
spend  a  couple  of  dreary  hours  in  the  parlor  with 
Mrs.  Carter,  as  Mr.  Simsbury  had  suggested,  but  to 
obtain  if  possible  a  conveyance  to  carry  me  im 
mediately  back  to  the  Knollys  mansion.  But  this, 
which  would  have  been  a  simple  matter  in  most 
towns,  seemed  wellnigh  an  impossibility  in  X.  The 
landlord  was  away,  and  Mrs.  Carter,  who  was  very 
frank  with  me,  told  me  it  would  be  perfectly  useless 
to  ask  one  of  the  men  to  drive  me  through  the  lane. 

It  's  an  unwholesome  spot,"  said  she,  "  and  only 
Mr.  Carter  and  the  police  have  the  courage  to  brave 
it." 


IIO  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  suggested  that  I  was  willing  to  pay  well,  but  it 
seemed  to  make  very  little  difference  to  her. 
"  Money  won't  hire  them,"  said  she,  and  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  Lucetta  had  triumphed 
in  her  plan,  and  that,  after  all,  I  must  sit  out  the 
morning  in  the  precincts  of  the  hotel  parlor  with 
Mrs.  Carter. 

It  was  my  first  signal  defeat,  but  I  was  determined 
to  make  the  best  of  it,  and  if  possible  glean  such 
knowledge  from  the  talk  of  this  woman  as  would 
make  me  feel  that  I  had  lost  nothing  by  my  disap 
pointment.  She  was  only  too  ready  to  talk,  and  the 
first  topic  was  little  Rob. 

I  saw  the  moment  I  mentioned  his  name  that  I 
was  introducing  a  subject  which  had  already  been 
well  talked  over  by  every  eager  gossip  in  the  village. 

Her  attitude  of  importance,  the  air  of  mystery  she 
assumed,  were  preparations  I  had  long  been  accus 
tomed  to  in  women  of  this  kind,  and  I  was  not  at 
all  surprised  when  she  announced  in  a  way  that 
admitted  of  no  dispute  : 

Oh,  there  's  no  wonder  the  child  is  sick.  We 
would  be  sick  under  the  circumstances.  He  has 
seen  the  phantom  coach." 

The  phantom  coach !  So  that  was  what  the  lock 
smith  meant.  A  phantom  coach !  I  had  heard  of 
every  kind  of  phantom  but  that.  Somehow  the 
idea  was  a  thrilling  one,  or  would  have  been  to  a 
nature  less  practical  than  mine. 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  III 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean,"  said  I.  "  Some 
superstition  of  the  place  ?  I  never  heard  of  a 
ghostly  appearance  of  that  nature  before." 

"  No,  I  expect  not.  It  belongs  to  X.  I  never 
heard  of  it  beyond  these  mountains.  Indeed,  I  have 
never  known  it  to  have  been  seen  but  upon  one 
road.  I  need  not  mention  what  road,  madam.  You 
can  guess." 

Yes,  I  could  guess,  and  the  guessing  made  me  set 
my  lips  a  little  grimly. 

'  Tell  me  more  about  this  thing,"  I  urged,  half 
laughing.  ' '  It  ought  to  be  of  some  interest  to  me. ' ' 

She  nodded,  drew  her  chair  a  trifle  nearer,  and 
impetuously  began : 

'  You  see  this  is  a  very  old  town.  It  has  more 
than  one  ancient  country  house  similar  to  the  one 
you  are  now  living  in,  and  it  has  its  early  traditions. 
One  is,  that  an  old-fashioned  coach,  perfectly  noise 
less,  drawn  by  horses  through  which  you  can  see  the 
moonlight,  haunts  the  highroad  at  intervals  and 
flies  through  the  gloomy  forest  road  we  have  chris 
tened  of  late  years  Lost  Man's  Lane.  It  is  a  super 
stition,  possibly,  but  you  cannot  find  many  families 
in  town  but  believe  in  it  as  a  fact,  for  there  is  not 
an  old  man  or  woman  in  the  place  but  has  either 
seen  it  in  the  past  or  has  had  some  relative  who  has 
seen  it.  It  passes  only  at  night,  and  it  is  thought  to 
presage  some  disaster  to  those  who  see  it.  My  hus 
band's  uncle  died  the  next  morning  after  it  flew  by 


112  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

him  on  the  highway.  Fortunately  years  elapse  be 
tween  its  going  and  coming.  It  is  ten  years,  I  think 
they  say,  since  it  was  last  seen.  Poor  little  Rob! 
It  has  frightened  him  almost  out  of  his  wits."" 

"  I  should  think  so,"  I  cried  with  becoming  cre 
dulity.  "  But  how  came  he  to  see  it  ?  I  thought 
you  said  it  only  passed  at  night." 

"  At  midnight,"  she  repeated.  ;<  But  Rob,  you 
see,  is  a  nervous  lad,  and  night  before  last  he  was 
so  restless  he  could  not  sleep,  so  he  begged  to  be 
put  in  the  window  to  cool  off.  This  his  mother  did, 
and  he  sat  there  for  a  good  half-hour  alone,  looking 
out  at  the  moonlight.  As  his  mother  is  an  economi 
cal  woman  there  was  no  candle  lit  in  the  room,  so 
he  got  his  pleasure  out  of  the  shadows  which  the 
great  trees  made  on  the  highroad,  when  suddenly — 
you  ought  to  hear  the  little  fellow  tell  it — he  felt 
the  hair  rise  on  his  forehead  and  all  his  body  grow 
stiff  with  a  terror  that  made  his  tongue  feel  like  lead 
in  his  mouth.  A  something  he  would  have  called  a 
horse  and  a  carriage  in  the  daytime,  but  which,  in 
this  light  and  under  the  influence  of  the  mortal 
terror  he  was  in,  took  on  a  distorted  shape  which 
made  it  unlike  any  team  l\e  was  accustomed  to, 
was  going  by,  not  as  if  being  driven  over  the  earth 
and  stones  of  the  road, — though  there  was  a  driver 
in  front,  a  driver  with  an  odd  three-cornered  hat  on 
his  head  and  a  cloak  about  his  shoulders,  such  as  the 
little  fellow  remembered  to  have  seen  hanging  in  his 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMIL  Y  113 

grandmother's  closet, — but  as  if  it  floated  along 
without  sound  or  stir;  in  fact,  a  spectre  team  which 
seemed  to  find  its  proper  destination  when  it  turned 
into  Lost  Man's  Lane  and  was  lost  among  the 
shadows  of  that  ill-reputed  road." 

Pshaw!"  was  my  spirited  comment  as  she 
paused  to  take  her  breath  and  see  how  I  was  af 
fected  by  this  grewsome  tale.  "  A  dream  of  the 
poor  little  lad  !  He  had  heard  stories  of  this  appa 
rition  and  his  imagination  supplied  the  rest." 

No;  excuse  me,  madam,  he  had  been  carefully 
kept  from  hearing  all  such  tales.  You  could  see  this 
by  the  way  he  told  his  story.  He  hardly  believed 
what  he  had  himself  seen.  It  was  not  till  some 
foolish  neighbor  blurted  out,  '  Why,  that  was  the 
phantom  coach,'  that  he  had  any  idea  he  was  not 
relating  a  dream." 

My  second  Pshaw  !  was  no  less  marked  than  the 
first. 

He  did  know  about  it,  notwithstanding,"  I  in 
sisted.  "  Only  he  had  forgotten  the  fact.  Sleep 
often  supplies  us  with  these  lost  memories." 

Very  true,  and  your  supposition  is  very  plaus 
ible,  Miss  Butterworth,  and  might  be  regarded  as 
correct,  if  he  had  been  the  only  person  to  see  this 
apparition.  But  Mrs.  Jenkins  saw  it  too,  and 
she  is  a  woman  to  be  believed." 

This  was  becoming  serious. 

"  Saw  it  before  he  did  or  afterwards  ?  "  I  asked. 


114  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  Does  she  live  on  the  highway  or  somewhere  in 
Lost  Man's  Lane  ?  " 

"  She  lives  on  the  highway  about  a  half-mile  from 
the  station.  She  was  sitting  up  with  her  sick  hus 
band  and  saw  it  just  as  it  was  going  down  the  hill. 
She  said  it  made  no  more  noise  than  a  cloud  slipping 
by.  She  expects  to  lose  old  Rause.  No  one  could 
behold  such  a  thing  as  that  and  not  have  some  mis 
fortune  follow." 

I  laid  all  this  up  in  my  mind.  My  hour  of  wait 
ing  was  not  likely  to  prove  wholly  unprofitable. 

'  You  see,"  the  good  woman  went  on,  with  a 
relish  for  the  marvellous  that  stood  me  in  good 
stead,  "  there  is  an  old  tradition  of  that  road  con 
nected  with  a  coach.  Years  ago,  before  any  of  us 
were  born,  and  the  house  where  you  are  now  stay 
ing  was  a  gathering-place  for  all  the  gay  young 
bloods  of  the  county,  a  young  man  came  up  from 
New  York  to  visit  Mr.  Knollys.  I  do  not  mean 
the  father  or  even  the  grandfather  of  the  folks  you 
are  visiting,  ma'am.  He  was  great-grandfather  to 
Lucetta,  and  a  very  fine  gentleman,  if  you  can  trust 
the  pictures  that  are  left  of  him.  But  my  story  has 
not  to  do  with  him.  He  had  a  daughter  at  that 
time,  a  widow  of  great  and  sparkling  attractions, 
and  though  she  was  older  than  the  young  man  I 
have  mentioned,  every  one  thought  he  would  marry 
her,  she  was  so  handsome  and  such  an  heiress. 

"  But  he  failed  to  pay  his  court  to  her,  and  though 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  11$ 

he  was  handsome  himself  and  made  a  fool  of  more 
than  one  girl  in  the  town,  every  one  thought  he 
would  return  as  he  had  come,  a  free-hearted  bache 
lor,  when  suddenly  one  night  the  coach  was  missed 
from  the  stables  and  he  from  the  company,  which 
led  to  the  discovery  that  the  young  widow's  daugh 
ter  was  gone  too,  a  chit  who  was  barely  fifteen,  and 
without  a  hundredth  part  of  the  beauty  of  her 
mother.  Love  only  could  account  for  this,  for  in 
those  days  young  ladies  did  not  ride  with  gentlemen 
in  the  evening  for  pleasure,  and  when  it  came  to  the 
old  gentleman's  ears,  and,  what  was  worse,  came  to 
the  mother's,  there  was  a  commotion  in  the  great 
house,  the  echoes  of  which,  some  say,  have  never 
died  out.  Though  the  pipers  were  playing  and  the 
fiddles  were  squeaking  in  the  great  room  where  they 
used  to  dance  the  night  away,  Mrs.  Knollys,  with  her 
white  brocade  tucked  up  about  her  waist,  stood  with 
her  hand  on  the  great  front  door,  waiting  for  the 
horse  upon  which  she  was  determined  to  follow  the 
flying  lovers.  The  father,  who  was  a  man  of  eighty 
years,  stood  by  her  side.  He  was  too  old  to  ride 
himself,  but  he  made  no  effort  to  hold  her  back, 
though  the  jewels  were  tumbling  from  her  hair  and 
the  moon  had  vanished  from  the  highway. 

'  I  will  bring  her  back  or  die!  '  the  passionate 
beauty  exclaimed,  and  not  a  lip  said  her  nay,  for 
they  saw,  what  neither  man  nor  woman  had  been 
able  to  see  up  to  that  moment,  that  her  very  life  and 


Il6  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

soul  were  wrapped  up  in  the  man  who  had  stolen 
away  her  daughter. 

"  Shrilly  piped  the  pipes,  squeak  and  hum  went 
the  fiddles,  but  the  sound  that  was  sweetest  to  her 
was  the  pound  of  the  horses'  hoofs  on  the  road  in 
front.  That  was  music  indeed,  and  as  soon  as  she 
heard  it  she  bestowed  one  wild  kiss  on  her  father 
and  bounded  from  the  house.  An  instant  later  and 
she  was  gone.  One  flash  of  her  white  robe  at  the 
gate,  then  all  was  dark  on  the  highway,  and  only 
the  old  father  stood  in  the  wide-open  door,  waiting, 
as  he  vowed  he  would  wait,  till  his  daughter  returned. 

"  She  did  not  go  alone.  A  faithful  groom  was 
behind  her,  and  from  him  was  learned  the  conclu 
sion  of  that  quest.  For  an  hour  and  a  half  they 
rode;  then  they  came  upon  a  chapel  in  the  moun 
tains,  in  which  were  burning  unwonted  lights.  At 
the  sight  the  lady  drew  rein  and  almost  fell  from 
her  horse  into  the  arms  of  her  lackey.  '  A  mar 
riage  ! '  she  murmured ;  '  a  marriage ! '  and  pointed 
to  an  empty  coach  standing  in  the  shadow  of  a  wide- 
spreading  tree.  It  was  their  family  coach.  How 
well  she  knew  it!  Rousing  herself,  she  made  for 
the  chapel  door.  '  I  will  stop  these  unhallowed 
rites ! '  she  cried  !  '  I  am  her  mother,  and  she  is  not 
of  age. '  But  the  lackey  drew  her  back  by  her  rich 
white  dress.  *  Look!  '  he  cried,  pointing  in  at  one 
of  the  windows,  and  she  looked.  The  man  she 
loved  stood  before  the  altar  with  her  daughter.  He 
was  smiling  in  that  daughter's  face  with  a  look  of 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  117 

passionate  devotion.  It  went  like  a  dagger  to  her 
heart.  Crushing  her  hands  against  her  face,  she 
wailed  out  some  fearful  protest;  then  she  dashed 
toward  the  door  with  '  Stop !  stop !  '  on  her  lips. 
But  the  faithful  lackey  at  her  side  drew  her  back 
once  more.  '  Listen!  '  was  his  word,  and  she  lis 
tened.  The  minister,  whose  form  she  had  failed  to 
note  in  her  first  hurried  look,  was  uttering  his  bene 
diction.  She  had  come  too  late.  The  young  couple 
were  married. 

"  Her  servant  said,  or  so  the  tradition  runs,  that 
when  she  realized  this  she  grew  calm  as  walking 
death.  Making  her  way  into  the  chapel,  she  stood 
ready  at  the  door  to  greet  them  as  they  issued 
forth,  and  when  they  saw  her  there,  with  her  rich 
bedraggled  robe  and  the  gleam  of  jewels  on  a  neck 
she  had  not  even  stopped  to  envelop  in  more  than 
the  veil  from  her  hair,  the  bridegroom  seemed  to 
realize  what  he  had  done  and  stopped  the  bride, 
who  in  her  confusion  would  have  fled  back  to  the 
altar  where  she  had  just  been  made  a  wife. 
'  Kneel !  '  he  cried.  '  Kneel,  Amarynth !  Only 
thus  can  we  ask  pardon  of  our  mother.'  But  at 
that  word,  a  word  which  seemed  to  push  her  a 
million  miles  away  from  these  two  beings  who  but 
two  hours  before  had  been  the  delight  of  her  life,  the 
unhappy  woman  gave  a  cry  and  fled  from  their 
presence.  '  Go !  go !  '  were  her  parting  words. 
'  As  you  have  chosen,  you  must  abide.  But  let  no 
tongue  ever  again  call  me  mother. ' 


Il8  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  They  found  her  lying  on  the  grass  outside.  As 
she  could  no  longer  sustain  herself  on  a  horse,  they 
put  her  into  the  coach,  gave  the  reins  to  her  devoted 
lackey,  and  themselves  rode  off  on  horseback.  One 
man,  the  fellow  who  had  driven  them  to  that  place, 
said  that  the  clock  struck  twelve  from  the  chapel 
tower  as  the  coach  turned  away  and  began  its  rapid 
journey  home.  This  may  and  may  not  be  so.  We 
only  know  that  its  apparition  always  enters  Lost 
Man's  Lane  a  few  minutes  before  one,  which  is  the 
very  hour  at  which  the  real  coach  came  back  and 
stopped  before  Mr.  Knollys'  gate.  And  now  for 
the  worst,  Miss  Butterworth.  When  the  old  gentle 
man  went  down  to  greet  the  runaways,  he  found  the 
lackey  on  the  box  and  his  daughter  sitting  all  alone 
in  the  coach.  But  the  soil  on  the  brocaded  folds 
of  her  white  dress  was  no  longer  that  of  mud  only. 
She  had  stabbed  herself  to  the  heart  with  a  bodkin 
she  wore  in  her  hair,  and  it  was  a  corpse  which  the 
faithful  negro  had  been  driving  down  the  highway 
that  night." 

I  am  not  a  sentimental  woman,  but  this  story  as 
thus  told  gave  me  a  thrill  I  do  not  know  as  I  really 
regret  experiencing. 

'  What  was  this  unhappy  mother's  name  ?"  I 
asked. 

"  Lucetta,"  was  the  unexpected  and  none  too 
reassuring  answer. 


XIII 

GOSSIP 

name  once  mentioned  called  for  more  gos- 
1       sip,  but  of  a  somewhat  different  nature. 

'  The  Lucetta  of  to-day  is  not  like  her  ancient 
namesake,"  observed  Mrs.  Carter.  "  She  may  have 
the  heart  to  love,  but  she  is  not  capable  of  showing 
that  love  by  any  act  of  daring." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  I  replied,  astonished 
that  I  felt  willing  to  enter  into  a  discussion  with 
this  woman  on  the  very  subject  I  had  just  shrunk 
from  talking  over  with  the  locksmith.  "  Girls  as 
frail  and  nervous  as  she  is,  sometimes  astonish  one 
at  a  pinch.  I  do  not  think  Lucetta  lacks  daring." 

"  You  don't  know  her.  Why,  I  have  seen  her 
jump  at  the  sight  of  a  spider,  and  heaven  knows 
that  they  are  common  enough  among  the  decaying 
walls  in  which  she  lives.  A  puny  chit,  Miss  Butter- 
worth  ;  pretty  enough,  but  weak.  The  very  kind  to 
draw  lovers,  but  not  to  hold  them.  Yet  every  one 
pities  her,  her  smile  is  so  heart-broken." 

'  With  ghosts  to  trouble  her  and  a  lover  to  be 
moan,  she  has  surely  some  excuse  for  that,"  said  I. 

119 


I2O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  Yes,  I  don't  deny  it.  But  why  has  she  a  lover 
to  bemoan?  He  seemed  a  proper  man  and  much 
beyond  the  ordinary.  Why  let  him  go  as  she  did  ? 
Even  her  sister  admits  that  she  loved  him." 

"  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  circumstances,"  I 
suggested. 

'  Well,  there  is  n't  much  of  a  story  to  it.  He  is 
a  young  man  from  over  the  mountains,  well  edu 
cated,  and  with  something  of  a  fortune  of  his  own. 
He  came  here  to  visit  the  Spears,  I  believe,  and 
seeing  Lucetta  leaning  one  day  on  the  gate  in  front 
of  her  house,  he  fell  in  love  with  her  and  began  to 
pay  her  his  attentions.  That  was  before  the  lane 
got  its  present  bad  name,  but  not  before  one  or  two 
men  l^ad  vanished  from  among  us.  William — that  is 
her  brother,  you  know — has  always  been  anxious  to 
have  his  sisters  marry,  so  he  did  not  stand  in  the 
way,  and  no  more  did  Miss  Knollys,  but  after  two 
or  three  weeks  of  doubtful  courtship,  the  young 
man  went  away,  and  that  was  the  end  of  it.  And  a 
great  pity,  too,  say  I,  for  once  clear  of  that  house, 
Lucetta  would  grow  into  another  person.  Sunshine 
and  love  are  necessities  to  most  women,  Miss  But- 
terworth,  especially  to  such  as  are  weakly  and 
timid." 

I  thought  the  qualification  excellent. 

"  You  are  right,"  I  assented,  "  and  I  should  like 
to  see  the  result  of  them  upon  Lucetta. ' '  Then,  with 
an  attempt  to  still  further  sound  this  woman's  mind 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  121 

and  with  it  the  united  mind  of  the  whole  village,  I 
remarked :  "  The  young  do  not  usually  throw  aside 
such  prospects  without  excellent  reasons.  Have  you 
never  thought  that  Lucetta  was  governed  by  prin 
ciple  in  discarding  this  very  excellent  young  man  ?  " 

"  Principle  ?  What  principle  could  she  have  had 
in  letting  a  desirable  husband  go  ?  " 

"  She  may  have  thought  the  match  an  undesirable 
one  for  him." 

"  For  him  ?  Well,  I  never  thought  of  that. 
True,  she  may.  They  are  known  to  be  poor,  but 
poverty  don't  count  in  such  old  families  as  theirs. 
I  hardly  think  she  would  be  influenced  by  any  such 
consideration.  Now,  if  this  had  happened  since 
the  lane  got  its  bad  name  and  all  this  stir  had  been 
made  about  the  disappearance  of  certain  folks  with 
in  its  precincts,  I  might  have  given  some  weight  to 
your  suggestion — women  are  so  queer.  But  this 
happened  long  ago  and  at  a  time  when  the  family 
was  highly  thought  of,  leastwise  the  girls,  for 
William  does  not  go  for  much,  you  know — too 
stupid  and  too  brutal." 

William !  Would  the  utterance  of  that  name 
heighten  my  suggestion  ?  I  surveyed  her  closely, 
but  could  detect  no  change  in  her  somewhat  puzzled 
countenance. 

My  allusions  were  not  in  reference  to  the  disap 
pearances,"  said  I.  "  I  was  thinking  of  something 
else.  Lucetta  is  not  well. " 


122  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  Ah,  I  know!  They  say  she  has  some  kind  of 
heart  complaint,  but  that  was  not  true  then.  Why, 
her  cheeks  were  like  roses  in  those  days,  and  her 
figure  as  plump  and  pretty  as  any  you  could  see 
among  our  village  beauties.  No,  Miss  Butterworth, 
it  was  through  her  weakness  she  lost  him.  She 
probably  palled  upon  his  taste.  It  was  noticed 
that  he  held  his  head  very  high  in  going  out  of 
town." 

'  Has  he  married  since  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Not  to  my  knowledge,  ma'am." 
'  Then  he  loved  her,"  I  declared. 

She  looked  at  me  quite  curiously.  Doubtless 
that  word  sounds  a  little  queer  on  my  lips,  but  that 
shall  not  deter  me  from  using  it  when  the  circum 
stances  seem  to  require.  Besides,  there  was  once  a 
time —  But  there,  I  promised  to  fall  into  no  digres 
sions. 

'  You  should  have  been  married  yourself,  Miss 
Butterworth,"  said  she. 

I  was  amazed,  first  at  her  daring,  and  secondly 
that  I  was  so  little  angry  at  this  sudden  turning  of 
the  tables  upon  myself.  But  then  the  woman  meant 
no  offence,  rather  intended  a  compliment. 

"  I  am  very  well  contented  as  I  am,"  I  returned. 
"7am  neither  sickly  nor  timid." 

She  smiled,  looked  as  if  she  thought  it  only  com 
mon  politeness  to  agree  with  me,  and  tried  to  say  so, 
but  finding  the  situation  too  much  for  her,  coughed 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  123 

and  discreetly  held  her  peace.     I  came  to  her  rescue 
with  a  new  question : 

;<  Have  the  women  of  the  Knollys  family  ever 
been  successful  in  love  ?  The  mother  of  these  girls, 
say — she  who  was  Miss  Althea  Burroughs — was  her 
life  with  her  husband  happy  ?  I  have  always  been 
curious  to  know.  She  and  I  were  schoolmates." 

'  You  were  ?  You  knew  Althea  Knollys  when 
she  was  a  girl  ?  Was  n't  she  charming,  ma'am  ? 
Did  you  ever  see  a  livelier  girl  or  one  with  more 
knack  at  winning  affection  ?  Why,  she  could  n't  sit 
down  with  you  a  half-hour  before  you  felt  like  shar 
ing  everything  you  had  with  her.  It  made  no  differ 
ence  whether  you  were  man  or  woman,  it  was  all  the 
same.  She  had  but  to  turn  those  mischievous, 
pleading  eyes  upon  you  for  you  to  become  a  fool  at 
once.  Yet  her  end  was  sad,  ma'am;  too  sad,  when 
you  remember  that  she  died  at  the  very  height  of 
her  beauty  alone  and  in  a  foreign  land.  But  I  have 
not  answered  your  question.  Were  she  and  the 
judge  happy  together  ?  I  have  never  heard  to  the 
contrary,  ma'am.  I  'm  sure  he  mourned  her  faith 
fully  enough.  Some  think  that  her  loss  killed  him. 
He  did  not  survive  her  more  than  three  years." 

The  children  do  not  favor  her  much,"  said  I, 
;<  but  I  see  an  expression  now  and  then  in  Lucetta 
which  reminds  me  of  her  mother." 

"  They  are  all  Knollys,"  said  she.  "  Even  Wil 
liam  has  traits  which,  with  a  few  more  brains  back 


124  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

of  them,  would  remind  you  of  his  grandfather,  who 
was  the  plainest  of  his  race." 

I*  was  glad  that  the  talk  had  reverted  to  William. 

"  He  seems  to  lack  heart,  as  well  as  brains,"  I 
said.  "  I  marvel  that  his  sisters  put  up  with  him  as 
well  as  they  do." 

'  They  cannot  help  it.  He  is  not  a  fellow  to  be 
fooled  with.  Besides,  he  holds  third  share  in  the 
house.  If  they  could  sell  it!  But,  deary  me,  who 
would  buy  an  old  tumble-down  place  like  that,  on  a 
road  you  cannot  get  folks  who  have  any  considera 
tion  for  their  lives  to  enter  for  love  or  money  ?  But 
excuse  me,  ma'am ;  I  forgot  that  you  are  living  just 
now  on  that  very  road.  I  'm  sure  I  beg  a  thousand 
pardons." 

"  I  am  living  there  as  a  guest,"  I  returned.  "  I 
have  nothing  to  do  with  its  reputation — except  to 
brave  it." 

"  A  courageous  thing  to  do,  ma'am,  and  one  that 
may  do  the  road  some  good.  If  you  can  spend  a 
month  with  the  Knollys  girls  and  come  out  of  their 
house  at  the  end  as  hale  and  hearty  as  you  entered 
it,  it  will  be  the  best  proof  possible  that  there  is  less 
to  be  feared  there  than  some  people  think.  I  shall 
be  glad  if  you  can  do  it,  ma'am,  for  I  like  the  girls 
and  would  be  glad  to  have  the  reputation  of  the 
place  restored." 

"  Pshaw!  "  was  my  final  comment.  '  The  credu 
lity  of  the  town  has  had  as  much  to  do  with  its  loss  as 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  12$ 

they  themselves.  That  educated  people  such  as  I 
see  here  should  believe  in  ghosts!  " 

I  say  final,  for  at  this  moment  the  good  lady, 
springing  up,  put  an  end  to  our  conversation.  She 
had  just  seen  a  buggy  pass  the  window. 

"  It  's  Mr.  Trohm,"  she  exclaimed.  ;<  Ma'am, 
if  you  wish  to  return  home  before  Mr.  Simsbury 
comes  back  you  may  be  able  to  do  so  with  this 
gentleman.  He  's  a  most  obliging  man,  and  lives 
less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Misses 
Knollys." 

I  did  not  say  I  had  already  met  the  gentleman. 
Why,  I  do  not  know.  I  only  drew  myself  up  and 
waited  with  some  small  inner  perturbation  for  the 
result  of  the  inquiry  I  saw  she  had  gone  to  make. 


XIV 

I  FORGET  MY  AGE,  OR,  RATHER,  REMEMBER  IT 

MR.  TROHM  did  not  disappoint  my  expecta 
tions.  In  another  moment  I  perceived  him 
standing  in  the  open  doorway  with  the  most  genial 
smile  on  his  lips. 

' '  Miss  Butterworth, ' '  said  he, ' '  I  feel  too  honored. 
If  you  will  deign  to  accept  a  seat  in  my  buggy,  I 
shall  only  be  too  happy  to  drive  you  home." 

I  have  always  liked  the  manners  of  country  gen 
tlemen.  There  is  just  a  touch  of  formality  in  their 
bearing  which  has  been  quite  eliminated  from  that 
of  their  city  brothers.  I  therefore  became  gracious 
at  once  and  accepted  the  seat  he  offered  me  without 
any  hesitation. 

The  heads  that  showed  themselves  at  the  neigh 
boring  windows  warned  us  to  hasten  on  our  route. 
Mr.  Trohm,  with  a  snap  of  his  whip,  touched  up  his 
horse,  and  we  rode  in  dignified  calm  away  from  the 
hotel  steps  into  the  wide  village  street  known  as  the 
main  road.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Gryce  had  told  me 
that  this  was  the  one  man  I  could  trust,  joined  to 

126 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  12 7 

my  own  excellent  knowledge  of  human  nature  and 
the  persons  in  whom  explicit  confidence  can  be  put, 
made  the  moment  one  of  great  satisfaction  to  me. 
I  was  about  to  make  my  appearance  at  the  Knollys 
mansion  two  hours  before  I  was  expected,  and  thus 
outwit  Lucetta  by  means  of  the  one  man  whose  as 
sistance  I  could  conscientiously  accept. 

We  were  not  slow  in  beginning  conversation.  The 
fine  air,  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  town  offered 
themes  upon  which  we  found  it  quite  easy  to  dilate, 
and  so  naturally  and  easily  did  our  acquaintanceship 
progress  that  we  had  turned  the  corner  into  Lost 
Man's  Lane  before  I  quite  realized  it.  The  entrance 
from  the  village  offered  a  sharp  contrast  to  the  one 
I  had  already  traversed.  There  it  was  but  a  narrow 
opening  between  sombre  and  unduly  crowding  trees. 
Here  it  was  the  gradual  melting  of  a  village  street 
into  a  narrow  and  less  frequented  road,  which  only 
after  passing  Deacon  Spear's  house  assumed  that 
aspect  of  wildness  which  a  quarter  of  a  mile  farther 
on  deepened  into  something  positively  sombre  and 
repellent. 

I  speak  of  Deacon  Spear  because  he  was  sitting  on 
his  front  doorstep  when  we  rode  by.  As  he  was  a 
resident  in  the  lane,  I  did  not  fail  to  take  notice  of 
him,  though  guardedly  and  with  such  restraint  as  a 
knowledge  of  his  widowed  condition  rendered  both 
wise  and  proper. 

He  was  not  an  agreeable-looking  person,  at  least 


128  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

to  me.  His  hair  was  sleek,  his  beard  well  cared  for, 
his  whole  person  in  good  if  not  prosperous  condition, 
but  he  had  the  self-satisfied  expression  I  detest,  and 
looked  after  us  with  an  aspect  of  surprise  I  chose  to 
consider  a  trifle  impertinent.  Perhaps  he  envied 
Mr.  Trohm.  If  so,  he  may  have  had  good  reason 
for  it — it  is  not  for  me  to  judge. 

Up  to  now  I  had  seen  only  a  few  scrub  bushes  at 
the  side  of  the  road,  with  here  and  there  a  solitary 
poplar  to  enliven  the  dead  level  on  either  side  of  us ; 
but  after  we  had  ridden  by  the  fence  which  sets  the 
boundary  to  the  good  deacon's  land,  I  noticed  such 
a  change  in  the  appearance  of  the  lane  that  I  could 
not  but  exclaim  over  the  natural  as  well  as  cultivated 
beauties  which  every  passing  moment  was  bringing 
before  me. 

Mr.  Trohm  could  not  conceal  his  pleasure. 
'  These  are  my  lands,"  said  he.  "•  I  have  be 
stowed  unremitting  attention  upon  them  for  years. 
It  is  my  hobby,  madam.  There  is  not  a  tree  you 
see  that  has  not  received  my  careful  attention. 
Yonder  orchard  was  set  out  by  me,  and  the  fruit  it 
yields —  Madam,  I  hope  you  will  remain  long  enough 
with  us  to  taste  a  certain  rare  and  luscious  peach 
that  I  brought  from  France  a  few  years  ago.  It 
gives  promise  of  reaching  its  full  perfection  this  year, 
and  I  shall  be  gratified  indeed  if  you  can  give  it  your 
approval. ' ' 

This  was  politeness  indeed,  especially  as  I  knew 


THE  K NOLLYS  FAMILY  I2Q 

what  value  men  like  him  set  upon  each  individual 
fruit  they  watch  ripen  under  their  care.  Testifying 
my  appreciation  of  his  kindness,  I  endeavored  to 
introduce  another  and  less  harmless  and  perhaps  less 
personally  interesting  topic  of  conversation.  The 
chimneys  of  his  house  were  beginning  to  show  over 
the  trees,  and  I  had  heard  nothing  from  this  man  on 
the  subject  which  should  have  been  the  most  inter 
esting  of  all  to  me  at  this  moment.  And  he  was 
the  only  person  in  town  I  was  at  liberty  to  really 
confide  in,  and  possibly  the  only  man  in  town  who 
could  give  me  a  reliable  statement  of  the  reasons 
why  the  family  I  was  visiting  was  regarded  in  a 
doubtful  light  not  only  by  the  credulous  villagers, 
but  by  the  New  York  police.  I  began  by  an  allusion 
to  the  phantom  coach. 

"  I  hear,"  said  I,  "  that  this  lane  has  other  claims 
to  attention  beyond  those  afforded  by  the  mysteries 
connected  with  it.  I  hear  that  it  has  at  times  a 
ghostly  visitant  in  the  shape  of  a  spectral  horse  and 
carriage." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  with  a  seeming  understanding 
that  was  very  flattering;  "  do  not  spare  the  lane  one 
of  its  honors.  It  has  its  nightly  horror  as  well  as 
its  daily  fear.  I  wish  the  one  were  as  unreal  as  the 
other." 

'  You  act  as  if  both  were  unreal  to  you,"  said  I. 

'  The  contrast  between  your  appearance  and  that  of 

some  other  members  of  the  lane  is  quite  marked." 


I3O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

*  You  refer  " — he  seemed  to  hate  to  speak — "  to 
the  Misses  Knollys,  I  presume." 

I  endeavored  to  treat  the  subject  lightly. 

4  To  your  young  enemy,  Lucetta,"  I  smilingly 
replied. 

He  had  been  looking  at  me  in  a  perfectly  modest 
and  respectful  manner,  but  he  dropped  his  eyes  at 
this  and  busied  himself  abstractedly,  and  yet  I 
thought  with  some  intention,  in  removing  a  fly  from 
the  horse's  flank  with  the  tip  of  his  whip. 

"  I  will  not  acknowledge  her  as  an  enemy,"  he 
quietly  returned  in  strictly  modulated  tones.  "  I 
like  the  girl  too  well." 

The  fly  had  been  by  this  time  dislodged,  but  he 
did  not  look  up. 

"  And  William  ?  "  I  suggested.  "  What  do  you 
think  of  William  ?" 

Slowly  he  straightened  himself.  Slowly  he 
dropped  the  whip  back  into  its  socket.  I  thought 
he  was  going  to  answer,  when  suddenly  his  whole 
attitude  changed  and  he  turned  upon  me  a  beaming 
face  full  of  nothing  but  pleasure. 

'  The  road  takes  a  turn  here.  In  another  moment 
you  will  see  my  house."  And  even  while  he  spoke 
it  burst  upon  us,  and  I  instantly  forgot  that  I  had 
just  ventured  on  a  somewhat  hazardous  question. 

It  was  such  a  pretty  place,  and  it  was  so  beauti 
fully  and  exquisitely  kept.  There  was  a  charm 
about  its  rose-encircled  porch  that  is  only  to  be 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMIL  Y  131 

found  in  very  old  places  that  have  been  apprecia 
tively  cared  for.  A  high  fence  painted  white  inclosed 
a  lawn  like  velvet,  and  the  house  itself,  shining  with 
a  fresh  coat  of  yellow  paint,  bore  signs  of  comfort 
in  its  white-curtained  windows  not  usually  to  be 
found  in  the  solitary  dwelling  of  a  bachelor.  I 
found  my  eyes  roving  over  each  detail  with  delight, 
and  almost  blushed,  or,  rather,  had  I  been  twenty 
years  younger  might  have  been  thought  to  blush, 
as  I  met  his  eyes  and  saw  how  much  my  pleasure 
gratified  him. 

"  You  must  excuse  me  if  I  express  too  much  ad 
miration  for  what  I  see  before  me,"  I  said,  with 
what  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  was  a  highly 
successful  effort  to  hide  my  confusion.  "  I  have 
always  had  a  great  leaning  towards  well-ordered 
walks  and  trimly  kept  flower-beds — a  leaning,  alas! 
which  I  have  found  myself  unable  to  gratify." 

"  Do  not  apologize,"  he  hastened  to  say.  '  You 
but  redouble  my  own  pleasure  in  thus  honoring  my 
poor  efforts  with  your  regard.  I  have  spared  no 
pains,  madam,  I  have  spared  no  pains  to  render  this 
place  beautiful,  and  most  of  what  you  see,  I  am 
proud  to  say,  has  been  accomplished  by  my  own 
hands." 

"  Indeed!"  I  cried  in  some  surprise,  letting  my 
eye  rest  with  satisfaction  on  the  top  of  a  long  well- 
sweep  that  was  one  of  the  picturesque  features  of 
the  place. 


132  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  It  may  have  been  folly,"  he  remarked,  with  a 
gloating  sweep  of  his  eye  over  the  velvet  lawn  and 
flowering  shrubs — a  peculiar  look  that  seemed  to  ex 
press  something  more  than  the  mere  delight  of  pos 
session,  <;<  but  I  seemed  to  begrudge  any  hired 
assistance  in  the  tending  of  plants  every  one  of 
which  seems  to  me  like  a  personal  friend." 

"  I  understand,"  was  my  somewhat  un-Butter- 
worthian  reply.  I  really  did  not  quite  know  myself. 

What  a  contrast  to  the  dismal  grounds  at  the 
other  end  of  the  lane!  " 

This  was  more  in  my  usual  vein.  He  seemed  to 
feel  the  difference,  for  his  expression  changed  at  my 
remark. 

"  Oh,  that  den!"  he  exclaimed,  bitterly;  then, 
seeing  me  look  a  little  shocked,  he  added,  with  an 
admirable  return  to  his  old  manner,  "  I  call  any 
place  a  den  where  flowers  do  not  grow."  And 
jumping  from  the  buggy,  he  gathered  an  exquisite 
bunch  of  heliotrope,  which  he  pressed  upon  me. 

I  love  sunshine,  beds  of  roses,  fountains,  and  a 
sweep  of  lawn  like  this  we  see  before  us.  But  do 
not  let  me  bore  you.  You  have  probably  lingered 
long  enough  at  the  old  bachelor's  place  and  now 
would  like  to  drive  on.  I  will  be  with  you  in  a  mo 
ment.  Doubtful  as  it  is  whether  I  shall  soon  again 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  offer  you  any  hospi 
tality,  I  would  like  to  bring  you  a  glass  of  wine — or, 
for  I  see  your  eyes  roaming  longingly  toward  my 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMIL  Y  1 33 

old-fashioned  well,  would  you  like  a  draft  of  water 
fresh  from  the  bucket  ?  " 

I  assured  him  I  did  not  drink  wine,  at  which  I 
thought  his  eyes  brightened,  but  that  neither  did  I 
indulge  in  water  when  in  a  heat,  as  at  present,  at 
which  he  looked  disappointed  and  came  somewhat 
reluctantly  back  to  the  buggy. 

He  brightened  up,  however,  the  moment  he  was 
again  at  my  side. 

"  Now  for  the  woods,"  he  exclaimed,  with  what 
was  undoubtedly  a  forced  laugh. 

I  thought  the  opportunity  one  I  ought  not  to 
slight. 

"  Do  you  think,"  said  I,  "  that  it  is  in  those 
woods  the  disappearances  occur  of  which  Miss 
Knollys  has  told  me  ? " 

He  showed  the  same  hesitancy  as  before  to  enter 
upon. this  subject. 

I  think  the  less  you  allow  your  mind  to  dwell 
on  this  matter  the  better,"  said  he — "  that  is,  if  you 
are  going  to  remain  long  in  this  lane.  I  do  not 
expend  any  more  thought  upon  it  than  is  barely 
necessary,  or  I  should  not  retain  sufficient  courage 
to  remain  among  my  roses  and  my  fruits.  I  wonder 
— pardon  me  the  indiscretion — that  you  could  bring 
yourself  to  enter  so  ill-reputed  a  neighborhood.  You 
must  be  a  very  brave  woman." 

:<  I  thought  it  my  duty—  '  I  began.  "  Althea 
Knollys  was  my  friend,  and  I  felt  I  owed  a  duty 


134  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

toward  her  children.  Besides — "  Should  I  tell  Mr. 
Trohm  my  real  errand  in  this  place  ?  Mr.  Gryce 
had  intimated  that  he  was  in  the  confidence  of  the 
police,  and  if  so,  his  assistance  in  case  of  necessity 
might  be  of  inestimable  value  to  me.  Yet  if  no 
such  necessity  should  arise  would  I  want  this  man 
to  know  that  Amelia  Butterworth —  No,  I  would  not 
take  him  into  my  confidence — not  yet.  I  would 
only  try  to  get  at  his  idea  of  where  the  blame  lay — 
that  is,  if  he  had  any. 

"  Besides,"  he  suggested  in  polite  reminder,  after 
waiting  a  minute  or  two  for  me  to  continue. 

"  Did  I  say  besides  ?  "  was  my  innocent  rejoinder. 
"  I  think  I  meant  that  after  seeing  them  my  sense  of 
the  importance  of  that  duty  had  increased.  William 
especially  seems  to  be  a  young  man  of  very  doubt 
ful  amiability." 

Immediately  the  non-commital  look  returned  to 
Mr.  Trohm 's  face. 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  William,"  said  he. 
"  He  's  not  the  most  agreeable  companion  in  the 
world  perhaps,  but  he  has  a  pretty  fancy  for  fruit — 
a  very  pretty  fancy." 

"  One  can  hardly  wonder  at  that  in  a  neighbor  of 
Mr.  Trohm,"  said  I,  watching  his  look,  which  was 
fixed  somewhat  gloomily  upon  the  forest  of  trees 
now  rapidly  closing  in  around  us. 

"  Perhaps  not,  perhaps  not,  madam.  The  sight  of 
a  blossoming  honeysuckle  hanging  from  an  arbor 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  135 

such  as  runs  along  my  south  walls  is  a  great  stimu 
lant  to  one's  taste,  madam,  I  '11  not  deny  that." 

"  But  William  ?"  I  repeated,  determined  not  to 
let  the  subject  go;  "  have  you  never  thought  he 
was  a  little  indifferent  to  his  sisters  ? " 

"  A  little,  madam." 

"  And  a  trifle  rough  to  everything  but  his  dogs  ?  " 

"  A  trifle,  madam." 

Such  reticence  seemed  unnecessary.  I  was  almost 
angry,  but  restrained  myself  and  pursued  quietly, 

The  girls,  on  the  contrary,  seem  devoted  to  him  ?  " 
'  Women  have  that  weakness." 

"  And  act  as  if  they  would  do — what  would  they 
not  do  for  him  ?  " 

"  Miss  Butterworth,  I  have  never  seen  a  more 
amiable  woman  than  yourself.  Will  you  promise 
me  one  thing  ?  " 

His  manner  was  respect  itself,  his  smile  genial  and 
highly  contagious.  I  could  not  help  responding  to 
it  in  the  way  he  expected. 

"  Do  not  talk  to  me  about  this  family.  It  is  a 
painful  subject  to  me.  Lucetta — you  know  the  girl, 
and  I  shall  not  be  able  to  prejudice  you  against  her 
— has  conceived  the  idea  that  I  encourage  William 
in  an  intimacy  of  which  she  does  not  approve.  She 
does  not  want  him  to  talk  to  me.  William  has  a 
loose  tongue  in  his  head  and  sometimes  drops  un 
guarded  words  about  their  doings,  which  if  any  but 
William  spoke —  But  there,  I  am  forgetting  one  of 


136  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

the  most  important  rules  of  my  own  life,  which  is  to 
keep  my  mouth  from  babbling  and  my  tongue  from 
guile.  Influence  of  a  congenial  companion,  madam ; 
it  is  irresistible  sometimes,  especially  to  a  man  living 
so  much  alone  as  myself." 

I  considered  his  fault  very  pardonable,  but  did 
not  say  so  lest  I  should  frighten  his  confidences 
away. 

I  thought  there  was  something  wrong  between 
you,"  I  said.  ;<!  Lucetta  acted  almost  afraid  of  you 
this  morning.  I  should  think  she  would  be  glad  of 
the  friendship  of  so  good  a  neighbor." 

His  face  took  on  a  very  sombre  look. 

She  is  afraid  of  me,"  he  admitted,  "  afraid  of 
what  I  have  seen  or  may  see  of — their  poverty,"  he 
added,  with  an  odd  emphasis.  I  scarcely  think  he 
expected  to  deceive  me. 

I  did  not  push  the  subject  an  inch  farther.  I 
saw  it  had  gone  as  far  as  discretion  permitted  at  this 
time. 

We  had  reached  the  heart  of  the  forest  and  were 
rapidly  approaching  the  Knollys  house.  As  the 
tops  of  its  great  chimneys  rose  above  the  foliage,  I 
saw  his  aspect  suddenly  change. 

"  I  don't  know  why  I  should  so  hate  to  leave  you 
here,"  he  remarked. 

I  myself  thought  the  prospect  of  re-entering  the 
Knollys  mansion  somewhat  uninviting  after  the 
pleasant  ride  I  had  had  and  the  glimpse  which  had 


THE  KNOLL  YS  FAMILY  137 

been  given  me  of  a  really  cheery  home  and  pleasant 
surroundings. 

"  This  morning  I  looked  upon  you  as  a  somewhat 
daring  woman,  the  progress  of  whose  stay  here 
would  be  watched  by  me  with  interest,  but  after  the 
companionship  of  the  last  half-hour  I  am  conscious 
of  an  anxiety  in  your  regard  which  makes  me  doubly 
wish  that  Miss  Knollys  had  not  shut  me  out  from 
her  home.  Are  you  sure  you  wish  to  enter  this 
house  again,  madam  ?  " 

I  was  surprised — really  surprised — at  the  feeling 
he  showed.  If  my  well-disciplined  heart  had  known 
how  to  flutter  it  would  probably  have  fluttered  then, 
but  happily  the  restraint  of  years  did  not  fail  me  in 
this  emergency.  Taking  advantage  of  the  emotion 
which  had  betrayed  him  into  an  acknowledgment  of 
his  real  feelings  regarding  the  dangers  lurking  in  this 
home,  despite  the  check  he  had  endeavored  to  put 
upon  his  lips,  I  said,  with  an  attempt  at  naivete  only 
to  be  excused  by  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion : 

'  Why,  I  thought  you  considered  this  domicile 
perfectly  harmless.  You  like  the  girls  and  have  no 
fault  to  find  with  William.  Can  it  be  that  this  great 
building  has  another  occupant  ?  I  do  not  allude  to 
ghosts.  Neither  of  us  are  likely  to  believe  in  the 
supernatural." 

Miss  Butterworth,  you  have  me  at  a  disadvan 
tage.  I  do  not  know  of  any  other  occupant  which 
the  house  can  hold  save  the  three  young  people  you 


138  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

have  mentioned.  If  I  seem  to  feel  any  doubt  of 
them — but  I  don't  feel  any  doubt.  I  only  dread 
any  place  for  you  which  is  not  watcKed  over  by 
some,  one  interested  in  your  defence.  The  danger 
threatening  the  inhabitants  of  this  lane  is  such  a 
veiled  one.  If  we  knew  where  it  lurked,  we  would 
no  longer  call  it  danger.  Sometimes  I  think  the 
ghosts  you  allude  to  are  not  as  innocent  as  mere, 
spectres  usually  are.  But  don't  let  me  frighten  you. 
Don't — "  How  quick  his  voice  changed!  "Ah, 
William,  I  have  brought  back  your  guest,  you  see ! 
I  could  n't  let  her  sit  out  the  noon  hour  in  old  Car 
ter's  parlor.  That  would  be  too  much  for  even  so 
amiable  a  person  as  Miss  Butterworth  to  endure." 

I  had  hardly  realized  we  were  so  near  the  gate 
and  certainly  was  surprised  to  find  William  any 
where  within  hearing.  That  his  appearance  at  this 
moment  was  anything  but  welcome,  must  be  evident 
to  every  one.  The  sentence  which  it  interrupted 
might  have  contained  the  most  important  advice,  or 
at  the  least  a  warning  I  could  ill  afford  to  lose.  But 
destiny  was  against  me,  and  being  one  who  accepts 
the  inevitable  with  good  grace,  I  prepared  to  alight, 
with  Mr.  Trohm's  assistance. 

The  bunch  of  heliotrope  I  held  was  a  little  in  my 
way  or  I  should  have  managed  the  jump  with  con 
fidence  and  dignified  agility.  As  it  was,  I  tripped 
slightly,  which  brought  out  a  chuckle  from  William 
that  at  the  moment  seemed  more  wicked  to  me  than 


THE  KNOLLYS  FAMILY  139 

any  crime.  Meanwhile  he  had  not  let  matters  pro 
ceed  thus  far  without  putting  more  than  one  ques 
tion. 

"  And  where  's  Simsbury  ?  And  why  did  Miss 
Butterworth  think  she  had  got  to  sit  in  Carter's 
parlor  ?" 

"  Mr.  Simsbury,"  said  I  as  soon  as  I  could  recover 
from  the  mingled  exertion  and  embarrassment  of 
my  descent  to  terra  firma,  "  felt  it  necessary  to  take 
the  horse  to  the  shoer's.  That  is  a  half-day's  work, 
as  you  know,  and  I  felt  confident  that  he  and  espe 
cially  you  would  be  glad  to  have  me  accept  any 
means  for  escaping  so  dreary  a  waiting." 

The  grunt  he  uttered  was  eloquent  of  anything 
but  satisfaction. 

"  I  '11  go  tell  the  girls,"  he  said.  But  he  did  n't 
go  till  he  had  seen  Mr.  Trohm  enter  his  buggy  and 
drive  slowly  off. 

That  all  this  did  not  add  to  my  liking  for  William 
goes  without  saying. 


BOOK  II 

THE  FLOWER  PARLOR 
XV 

LUCETTA   FULFILS   MY   EXPECTATION   OF  HER 

IT  was  not  till  Mr.  Trohm  had  driven  away  that  I 
noticed,  in  the  shadow  of  the  trees  on  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  road,  a  horse  tied  up,  whose  empty 
saddle  bespoke  a  visitor  within.  At  any  other  gate 
and  on  any  other  road  this  would  not  have  struck 
me  as  worthy  of  notice,  much  less  of  comment. 
But  here,  and  after  all  that  I  had  heard  during  the 
morning,  the  circumstance  was  so  unexpected  I 
could  not  help  showing  my  astonishment. 

"  A  visitor  ?"  I  asked. 

"  Some  one  to  see  Lucetta." 

William  had  no  sooner  said  this  than  I  saw  he  was 
in  a  state  of  high  excitement.  He  had  probably 
been  in  this  condition  when  we  drove  up,  but  my 
attention  being  directed  elsewhere  I  had  not  noticed 

140 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  141 

it.  Now,  however,  it  was  perfectly  plain  to  me, and 
it  did  not  seem  quite  the  excitement  of  displeasure, 
though  hardly  that  of  joy. 

"  She  does  n't  expect  you  yet,"  he  pursued,  as  I 
turned  sharply  toward  the  house,  "  and  if  you  inter 
rupt  her —  D — n  it,  if  I  thought  you  would  interrupt 
her " 

I  thought  it  time  to  teach  him  a  lesson  in 
manners. 

14  Mr.  Knollys,"  I  interposed  somewhat  severely, 

I  am  a  lady.  Why  should  I  interrupt  your  sister 
or  give  her  or  you  a  moment  of  pain  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  muttered.  '  You  are  so 
very  quick  I  was  afraid  you  might  think  it  neces 
sary  to  join  her  in  the  parlor.  She  is  perfectly  able 
to  take  care  of  herself,  Miss  Butterworth,  and  if  she 
don't  do  it — "  The  rest  was  lost  in  indistinct 
guttural  sounds. 

I  made  no  effort  to  answer  this  tirade.  I  took 
my  usual  course  in  quite  my  usual  way  to  the  front 
steps  and  proceeded  to  mount  them  without  so 
much  as  looking  behind  me  to  see  whether  or  not 
this  uncouth  representative  of  the  Knollys  name 
had  kept  at  my  heels  or  not. 

Entering  the  door,  which  was  open,  I  came  with 
out  any  effort  on  my  part  upon  Lucetta  and  her 
visitor,  who  proved  to  be  a  young  gentleman.  They 
were  standing  together  in  the  middle  of  the  hall  and 
were  so  absorbed  in  what  they  were  saying  that 


142  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

they  neither  saw  nor  heard  me.  I  was  therefore 
enabled  to  catch  the  following  sentences,  which 
struck  me  as  of  some  moment.  The  first  was  uttered 
by  her,  and  in  very  pleading  tones : 

"  A  week — I  only  ask  a  week.  Then  perhaps  I 
can  give  you  an  answer  which  will  satisfy  you.'* 

His  reply,  in  manner  if  not  in  matter,  proclaimed 
him  the  lover  of  whom  I  had  so  lately  heard. 

I  cannot,  dear  girl;  indeed,  I  cannot.  My 
whole  future  depends  upon  my  immediately  making 
the  move  in  which  I  have  asked  you  to  join  me. 
If  I  wait  a  week,  my  opportunity  will  be  gone, 
Lucetta.  You  know  me  and  you  know  how  I  love 
you.  Then  come " 

A  rude  hand  on  my  shoulder  distracted  my  atten 
tion.  William  stood  lowering  behind  me  and,  as  I 
turned,  whispered  in  my  ear: 

'  You  must  come  round  the  other  way.  Lucetta 
is  so  touchy,  the  sight  of  you  will  drive  every  sensi 
ble  idea  out  of  her  head." 

His  blundering  whisper  did  what  my  presence  and 
by  no  means  light  footsteps  had  failed  to  do.  With 
a  start  Lucetta  turned  and,  meeting  my  eye,  drew 
back  in  visible  confusion.  The  young  man  followed 
her  hastily. 

"Is  it  good-by,  Lucetta  ?  "  he  pleaded,  with  a 
fine,  manly  ignoring  of  our  presence  that  roused  my 
admiration. 

She   did   not  answer.      Her  look  was  enough. 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  143 

William,  seeing  it,  turned  furious  at  once,  and, 
bounding  by  me,  faced  the  young  man  with  an 
oath. 

'  You  're  a  fool  to  take  no  from  a  silly  chit  like 
that,"  he  vociferated.  If  I  loved  a  girl  as  you 
say  you  love  Lucetta,  I  'd  have  her  if  I  had  to  carry 
her  away  by  force.  She  'd  stop  screaming  before 
she  was  well  out  of  the  lane.  I  know  women. 
While  you  listen  to  them  they  '11  talk  and  talk ;  but 
once  let  a  man  take  matters  into  his  own  hands 
and —  "  A  snap  of  his  fingers  finished  the  sentence. 
I  thought  the  fellow  brutal,  but  scarcely  so  stupid 
as  I  had  heretofore  considered  him. 

His  words,  however,  might  just  as  well  have  been 
uttered  into  empty  air.  The  young  man  he  so 
violently  addressed  appeared  hardly  to  have  heard 
him,  and  as  for  Lucetta,  she  was  so  nearly  insensible 
from  misery  that  she  had  sufficient  ado  to  keep  her 
self  from  falling  at  her  lover's  feet. 

"  Lucetta,  Lucetta,  is  it  then  good-by  ?  You 
will  not  go  with  me?" 

"  I  cannot.  William,  here,  knows  that  I  cannot. 
I  must  wait  till " 

But  here  her  brother  seized  her  so  violently  by 
the  wrist  that  she  stopped  from  sheer  pain,  I  fear. 
However  that  was,  she  turned  pale  as  death  under 
his  clutch,  and,  when  he  tried  to  utter  some  hot, 
passionate  words  into  her  ear,  shook  her  head,  but 
did  not  speak,  though  her  lover  was  gazing  with  a 


144  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

last,  final  appeal  into  her  eyes.  The  delicate  girl 
was  bearing  out  my  estimate  of  her. 

Seeing  her  thus  unresponsive,  William  flung  her 
hand  from  him  and  turned  upon  me. 

"  It  's  your  fault,"  he  cried.  "  You  would  come 
in " 

But,  at  this,  Lucetta,  recovering  her  poise  in  a 
moment,  cried  out  shrilly : 

"  For  shame,  William!  What  has  Miss  Butter- 
worth  to  do  with  this  ?  You  are  not  helping  me 
with  your  roughness.  God  knows  I  find  this  hour 
hard  enough,  without  this  show  of  anxiety  on  your 
part  to  be  rid  of  me." 

'  There  's  woman's  gratitude  for  you,"  was  his 
snarling  reply.  !<  I  offer  to  take  all  the  responsibil 
ities  on  my  own  shoulders  and  make  it  right  with— 
with  her  sister,  and  all  that,  and  she  calls  it  desire 
to  get  rid  of  her.  Well,  have  your  own  way,"  he 
growled,  storming  down  the  hall;  "  I  'm  done  with 
it  for  one." 

The  young  man,  whose  attitude  of  reserve,  mixed 
with  a  strange  and  lingering  tenderness  for  this  girl, 
whom  he  evidently  loved  without  fully  understand 
ing  her,  was  every  minute  winning  more  and  more 
of  my  admiration,  had  meanwhile  raised  her  trem 
bling  hand  to  his  lips  in  what  was,  as  we  all  could 
see,  a  last  farewell. 

In  another  moment  he  was  walking  by  us,  giving 
me  as  he  passed  a  low  bow  that  for  all  its  grace  did 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  145 

not  succeed  in  hiding  from  me  the  deep  and  heart 
felt  disappointment  with  which  he  quitted  this 
house.  As  his  figure  passed  through  the  door, 
hiding  for  one  moment  the  sunshine,  I  felt  an  op 
pression  such  as  has  not  often  visited  my  healthy 
nature,  and  when  it  passed  and  disappeared,  some 
thing  like  the  good  spirit  of  the  place  seemed  to  go 
with  it,  leaving  in  its  place  doubt,  gloom,  and  a 
morbid  apprehension  of  that  unknown  something 
which  in  Lucetta's  eyes  had  rendered  his  dismissal 
necessary. 

"  Where  's  Saracen  ?  I  declare  I  'm  nothing  but 
a  fool  without  that  dog,"  shouted  William.  "  If 
he  has  to  be  tied  up  another  day—  But  shame 
was  not  entirely  eliminated  from  his  breast,  for  at 
Lucetta's  reproachful  "William!"  he  sheepishly 
dropped  his  head  and  strode  out,  muttering  some 
words  I  was  fain  to  accept  as  an  apology. 

I  had  expected  to  encounter  a  wreck  in  Lucetta, 
as,  this  episode  in  her  life  closed,  she  turned  toward 
me.  But  I  did  not  yet  know  this  girl,  whose  frailty 
seemed  to  lie  mostly  in  her  physique.  Though  she 
was  suffering  far  more  than  her  defence  of  me  to  her 
brother  would  seem  to  denote,  there  was  a  spirit  in 
her  approach  and  a  steady  look  in  her  dark  eye 
which  assured  me  that  I  could  not  calculate  upon 
any  loss  in  Lucetta's  keenness,  in  case  we  came  to 
an  issue  over  the  mystery  that  was  eating  into  the 
happiness  as  well  as  the  honor  of  this  household. 


146  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you,"  were  her  unexpected 
words.  '  The  gentleman  who  has  just  gone  out 
was  a  lover  of  mine ;  at  least  he  once  professed  to 
care  for  me  very  much,  and  I  should  have  been  glad 
to  have  married  him,  but  there  were  reasons  which 
I  once  thought  most  excellent  why  this  seemed  any 
thing  but  expedient,  and  so  I  sent  him  away.  To 
day  he  came  without  warning  to  ask  me  to  go  away 
with  him,  after  the  hastiest  of  ceremonies,  to  South 
America,  where  a  splendid  prospect  has  suddenly 
opened  for  him.  You  see,  don't  you,  that  I  could 
not  do  that;  that  it  would  be  the  height  of  selfish 
ness  in  me  to  leave  Loreen — to  leave  William — 

'  Who  seems  only  too  anxious  to  be  left,"  I  put 
in,  as  her  voice  trailed  off  in  the  first  evidence  of 
embarrassment  she  had  shown  since  she  faced  me. 

'  William  is  a  difficult  man  to  understand,"  was 
her  firm  but  quiet  retort.  "  From  his  talk  you 
would  judge  him  to  be  morose,  if  not  positively  un 
kind,  but  in  action —  "  She  did  not  tell  me  how 
he  was  in  action.  Perhaps  her  truthfulness  got  the 
better  of  her,  or  perhaps  she  saw  it  would  be  hard 
vork  to  prejudice  me  now  in  his  favor. 


XVI 

LOREEN 

LUCETTA  had  said  to  her  departing  lover,  that 
in  a  week  she  might  be  able  (were  he  willing 
or  in  a  position  to  wait)  to  give  him  a  more  satisfac 
tory  answer.     Why  in  a  week  ? 

That  her  hesitation  sprang  from  the  mere  dislike 
of  leaving  her  sister  so  suddenly,  or  that  she  had 
sacrificed  her  life's  happiness  to  any  childish  idea 
of  decorum,  I  did  not  think  probable.  The  spirit 
she  had  shown,  her  immovable  attitude  under  a 
temptation  which  had  not  only  romance  to  recom 
mend  it,  but  everything  else  which  could  affect 
a  young  and  sensitive  woman,  argued  in  my  mind 
the  existence  of  some  uncompleted  duty  of  so  ex 
acting  and  imperative  a  nature  that  she  could  not 
even  consider  the  greatest  interests  of  her  own 
life  until  this  one  thing  was  out  of  her  way.  Wil 
liam's  rude  question  of  the  morning,  "  What  shall 
we  do  with  the  old  girl  till  it  is  all  over?"  re 
curred  to  me  in  support  of  this  theory,  making 
me  feel  that  I  needed  no  further  confirmation,  to 
be  quite  certain  that  a  crisis  was  approaching  in 

147 


148  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

this  house  which  would  tax  my  powers  to  the 
utmost  and  call  perhaps  for  the  use  of  the  whistle 
which  I  had  received  from  Mr.  Gryce,  and  which, 
following  his  instructions,  I  had  tied  carefully  about 
my  neck.  Yet  how  could  I  associate  Lucetta  with 
crime,  or  dream  of  the  police  in  connection  with  the 
serene  Loreen,  whose  every  look  was  a  rebuke  to  all 
that  was  false,  vile,  or  even  common  ?  Easily,  my 
readers,  easily,  with  that  great,  hulking  William  in 
my  remembrance.  To  shield  him,  to  hide  perhaps 
his  deformity  of  soul  from  the  world,  even  such 
gentle  and  gracious  women  as  these  have  been  known 
to  enter  into  acts  which  to  an  unprejudiced  eye  and 
an  unbiased  conscience  would  seem  little  short  of 
fiendish.  Love  for  an  unworthy  relative,  or  rather 
the  sense  of  duty  toward  those  of  one's  own  blood, 
has  driven  many  a  clear-minded  woman  to  her  ruin, 
as  may  be  seen  any  day  in  the  police  annals. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  I  have  not  as  yet  put  into 
definite  words  the  suspicion  upon  which  I  was  now 
prepared  to  work.  Up  to  this  time  it  had  been  too 
vague,  or  rather  of  too  monstrous  a  character  for  me 
not  to  consider  other  theories,  such  as,  for  instance, 
the  possible  connection  of  old  Mother  Jane  with  the 
unaccountable  disappearances  which  had  taken  place 
in  this  lane.  But  after  this  scene,  the  increased  as 
surance  I  was  hourly  receiving  that  something  ex 
traordinary  and  out  of  keeping  with  the  customary 
appearances  of  the  household  was  secretly  going 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR 


on  in  some  one  of  the  various  chambers  of  that  long 
corridor  I  had  been  prevented  from  entering,  forced 
me  to  accept  and  act  upon  the  belief  that  these 
young  women  held  in  charge  a  prisoner  of  some  kind, 
of  whose  presence  in  the  house  they  dreaded  the  dis 
covery. 

Now,  who  could  this  prisoner  be  ? 

Common  sense  supplied  me  with  but  one  answer: 
Silly  Rufus,  the  boy  who  within  a  few  days  had 
vanished  from  among  the  good  people  of  this  seem 
ingly  guileless  community. 

This  theory  once  established  in  my  mind,  I  ap 
plied  myself  to  a  consideration  of  the  means  at  my 
disposal  for  determining  its  validity.  The  simplest, 
surest,  but  least  satisfactory  to  one  of  my  nature 
was  to  summon  the  police  and  have  the  house 
thoroughly  searched,  but  this  involved,  in  case  I 
had  been  deceived  by  appearances  —  as  was  possible 
even  to  a  woman  of  my  experience  and  discrimina 
tion,  —  a  scandal  and  an  opprobrium  which  I  would 
be  the  last  to  inflict  upon  Althea's  children,  unless 
justice  to  the  rest  of  the  world  demanded  it. 

It  was  in  consideration  of  this  very  fact,  perhaps, 
that  I  had  been  chosen  for  this  duty  instead  of  some 
regular  police  spy.  Mr.  Gryce,  as  I  very  well  knew, 
has  made  it  his  rule  of  life  never  to  risk  the  reputa 
tion  of  any  man  or  woman  without  reasons  so  excel 
lent  as  to  carry  their  own  exoneration  with  them, 
and  should  I,  a  woman,  with  full  as  much  heart  as 


150  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

himself,  if  not  quite  as  much  brain  (at  least  in  the 
estimation  of  people  in  general),  by  any  premature 
exposure  of  my  suspicions,  subject  these  young 
friends  of  mine  to  humiliations  they  are  far  too 
weak  and  too  poor  to  rise  above  ? 

No,  rather  would  I  trust  a  little  longer  to  my  own 
perspicacity  and  make  sure  by  the  use  of  my  own 
eyes  that  the  situation  called  for  the  interference  I 
had,  as  you  may  say,  at  the  end  of  the  cord  I  wore 
about  my  neck. 

Lucetta  had  not  asked  me  how  I  came  to  be  back 
so  much  sooner  than  she  had  reason  to  expect  me. 
The  unlooked-for  arrival  of  her  lover  had  probably 
put  all  idea  of  her  former  plans  out  of  her  head.  I 
therefore  gave  her  the  shortest  of  explanations  when 
we  met  at  the  dinner  table.  Nothing  further 
seemed  to  be  necessary,  for  the  girls  were  even  more 
abstracted  than  before,  and  William  positively  boor 
ish  till  a  warning  glance  from  Loreen  recalled  him 
to  his  better  self,  which  meant  silence. 

The  afternoon  was  spent  in  very  much  the  same 
way  as  the  evening  before.  Neither  sister  remained 
an  instant  with  me  after  the  other  entered  my  com 
pany,  and  though  the  alternations  were  less  frequent 
than  at  that  time,  their  peculiarities  were  more 
marked  and  less  naturally  accounted  for.  It  was 
while  Loreen  was  with  me  that  I  made  the  sugges 
tion  which  had  been  hovering  on  my  lips  ever  since 
the  noon. 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR 

"  I  consider  this,"  I  observed,  in  one  of  the 
pauses  of  our  more  than  fitful  conversation,  "  one 
of  the  most  interesting  houses  it  has  ever  been  my 
good  fortune  to  enter.  Would  you  mind  my  roam 
ing  about  a  bit  just  to  enjoy  the  old-time  flavor  of 
its  great  empty  rooms  ?  I  know  they  are  mostly 
closed  and  possibly  unfurnished,  but  to  a  connois 
seur  like  myself  in  colonial  architecture,  this  rather 
adds  to,  than  detracts  from,  their  interest." 

"  Impossible,"  she  was  going  to  say,  but  caught 
herself  back  in  time  and  changed  the  imperative 
word  to  one  more  conciliatory  if  equally  unyielding. 

"  I  am  sorry,  Miss  Butterworth,  to  deny  you  this 
gratification,  but  the  condition  of  the  rooms  and  the 
unhappy  excitement  into  which  we  have  been  thrown 
by  the  unfortunate  visit  paid  to  Lucetta  by  a  gentle 
man  to  whom  she  is  only  too  much  attached,  make 
it  quite  impossible  for  me  to  consider  any  such 
undertaking  to-day.  To-morrow  I  may  find  it 
easier;  but,  if  not,  be  assured  you  shall  see  every 
nook  and  corner  of  this  house  before  you  finally 
leave  it." 

"  Thank  you.  I  will  remember  that.  To  one  o<" 
my  tastes  an  ancient  room  in  a  time-honored  mansion 
like  this,  affords  a  delight  not  to  be  understood  by 
one  who  knows  less  of  the  last  century's  life.  The 
legends  connected  with  your  great  drawing-room 
below  [we  were  sitting  in  my  room,  I  having  refused 
to  be  cooped  up  in  their  dreary  side  parlor,  and  she 


I$2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

not  having  offered  me  any  other  spot  more  cheerful] 
are  sufficient  in  themselves  to  hold  me  entranced  for 
an  hour.  I  heard  one  of  them  to-day." 

"  Which  ?" 

She  spoke  more  quickly  than  usual,  and  for  her 
quite  sharply. 

'  That  of  Lucetta's  namesake,"  I  explained, 
11  She  who  rode  through  the  night  after  a  daughter 
who  had  won  her  lover's  heart  away  from  her." 

"  Ah,  it  is  a  well-known  tale,  but  I  think  Mrs. 
Carter  might  have  left  its  relation  to  us.  Did  she 
tell  you  anything  else  ?  " 

"  No  other  tradition  of  this  place,"  I  assured  her. 

"  I  am  glad  she  was  so  considerate.  But  why — if 
you  will  pardon  me — did  she  happen  to  light  upon 
that  story  ?  We  have  not  heard  those  incidents 
spoken  of  for  years." 

"  Not  since  the  phantom  coach  flew  through  this 
road  the  last  time,"  I  ventured,  with  a  smile  that 
should  have  disarmed  her  from  suspecting  any 
ulterior  motive  on  my  part  in  thus  introducing  a 
subject  which  could  not  be  altogether  pleasing  to 
her. 

' '  The  phantom  coach  !     Have  you  heard  of  that  ? ' ' 

I  wish  it  had  been  Lucetta  who  had  said  this  and 
to  whom  my  reply  was  due.  The  opportunities 
would  have  been  much  greater  for  an  injudicious 
display  of  feeling  on  her  part  and  for  a  suitable  con 
clusion  on  mine. 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  153 

But  it  was  Loreen,  and  she  never  forgot  herself. 
So  I  had  to  content  myself  with  the  persuasion  that 
her  voice  was  just  a  whit  less  clear  than  usual  and 
her  serenity  enough  impaired  for  her  to  look  out  of 
my  one  high  and  dismal  window  instead  of  into  my 
face. 

"  My  dear," — I  had  not  called  her  this  before, 
though  the  term  had  frequently  risen  to  my  lips  in 
answer  to  Lucetta — "  you  should  have  gone  with  me 
into  the  village  to-day.  Then  you  would  not  need 
to  ask  if  I  had  heard  of  the  phantom  coach." 

The  probe  had  reached  the  quick  at  last.  She 
looked  quite  startled. 

'  You  amaze  me,"  she  said.  '  What  do  you 
mean,  Miss  Butterworth  ?  Why  should  I  not  have 
needed  to  ask  ?  " 

"  Because  you  would  have  heard  it  whispered 
about  in  every  lane  and  corner.  It  is  common 
talk  in  town  to-day.  You  must  know  why,  Miss 
Knollys." 

She  was  not  looking  out  of  the  window  now.  She 
was  looking  at  me. 

"  I  assure  you,"  she  murmured,  "  I  do  not  know 
at  all.  Nothing  could  be  more  incomprehensible  to 
me.  Explain  yourself,  I  entreat  you.  The  phan 
tom  coach  is  but  a  myth  to  me,  interesting  only  as 
involving  certain  long-vanished  ancestors  of  mine." 

"  Of  course,"  I  assented.  "  No  one  of  real  sense 
could  regard  it  in  any  other  light.  But  villagers 


r$4  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

will  talk,  and  they  say — you  will  soon  know  what,  if 
I  do  not  tell  you  myself — -that  it  passed  through  the 
lane  on  Tuesday  night." 

'  Tuesday  night !  "  Her  composure  had  been  re 
gained,  but  not  so  entirely  but  that  her  voice  slightly 
trembled.  "  That  was  before  you  came.  I  hope  it 
was  not  an  omen." 

I  was  in  no  mood  for  pleasantry. 
4  They  say  that  the  passing  of  this  apparition  de 
notes  misfortune  to  those  who  see  it.  I  am  therefore 
obviously  exempt.  But  you — did  you  see  it  ?  I 
am  just  curious  to  know  if  it  is  visible  to  those  who 
live  in  the  lane.  It  ought  to  have  turned  in  here. 
Were  you  fortunate  enough  to  have  been  awake  at 
that  moment  and  to  have  seen  this  spectral  appear 
ance  ?  " 

She  shuddered.  I  was  not  mistaken  in  believing 
I  saw  this  sign  of  emotion,  for  I  was  watching 
her  very  closely,  and  the  movement  was  unmistak 
able. 

"  I  have  never  seen  anything  ghostly  in  my  life," 
said  she.  ;<  I  am  not  at  all  superstitious." 

If  I  had  been  ill-natured  or  if  I  had  thought  it 
wise  to  press  her  too  closely,  I  might  have  inquired 
why  she  looked  so  pale  and  trembled  so  visibly. 

But  my  natural  kindness,  together  with  an  instinct 
of  caution,  restrained  me,  and  I  only  remarked : 

There  you  are  sensible,  Miss  Knollys — doubly 
so  as  a  denizen  of  this  house,  which,  Mrs.  Carter  was 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  155 

obliging  enough  to  suggest  to  me,  is  considered  by 
many  as  haunted." 

The  straightening  of  Miss  Knollys'  lips  augured 
no  good  to  Mrs.  Carter. 

"  Now  I  only  wish  it  was,"  I  laughed  dryly.  "  I 
should  really  like  to  meet  a  ghost,  say,  in  your  great 
drawing-room,  which  I  am  forbidden  to  enter." 

"  You  are  not  forbidden,"  she  hastily  returned. 

You  may  explore  it  now  if  you  will  excuse  me 
from  accompanying  you ;  but  you  will  meet  no 
ghosts.  The  hour  is  not  propitious."* 

Taken  aback  by  her  sudden  amenity,  I  hesitated 
for  a  moment.  Would  it  be  worth  while  for  me  to 
search  a  room  she  was  willing  to  have  me  enter  ? 
No,  and  yet  any  knowledge  which  could  be  obtained 
in  regard  to  this  house  might  be  of  use  to  me  or  to 
Mr.  Gryce.  I  decided  to  embrace  her  offer,  after 
first  testing  her  with  one  other  question. 

'  Would  you  prefer  to  have  me  steal  down  these 
corridors  at  night  and  dare  their  dusky  recesses  at  a 
time  when  spectres  are  supposed  to  walk  the  halls 
they  once  flitted  through  in  happy  consciousness  ? " 
Hardly."  She  made  the  greatest  effort  to  sus 
tain  the  jest,  but  her  concern  and  dread  were  mani 
fest.  ;<  I  think  I  had  better  give  you  the  keys  now, 
than  subject  you  to  the  drafts  and  chilling  discom 
forts  of  this  old  place  at  midnight." 

I  rose  with  a  semblance  of  eager  anticipation. 

"  I  will  take  you  at  your  word,"  said  I.       '  The 


156  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

keys,  my  dear.      I  am  going  to  visit  a  haunted  room 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life." 

I  do  not  think  she  was  deceived  by  this  feigned 
ebullition.  Perhaps  it  was  too  much  out  of  keeping 
with  my  ordinary  manner,  but  she  gave  no  sign  of 
surprise  and  rose  in  her  turn  with  an  air  suggestive 
of  relief. 

Excuse  me,  if  I  precede  you,"  she  begged.  "  I 
will  meet  you  at  the  head  of  the  corridor  with  the 
keys." 

I  was  in  hopes  she  would  be  long  enough  in  ob 
taining  them  to  allow  me  to  stroll  along  the  front 
hall  to  the  opening  into  the  corridor  I  was  so  anx 
ious  to  enter.  But  the  spryness  I  showed,  seemed 
to  have  a  corresponding  effect  upon  her,  for  she 
almost  flew  down  the  passageway  before  me  and 
was  back  at  my  side  before  I  could  take  a  step  in 
the  coveted  direction. 

'  These  will  take  you  into  any  room  on  the  firat 
floor,"  said  she.  '  You  will  meet  with  dust  and 
Lucetta's  abhorrence,  spiders,  but  for  these  I  shall 
make  no  apologies.  Girls  who  cannot  provide  com 
forts  for  the  few  rooms  they  utilize,  cannot  b 
expected  to  keep  in  order  the  large  and  disused 
apartments  of  a  former  generation." 

I  hate  dirt  and  despise  spiders,"  was  my  dry 
retort,  "  but  I  am  willing  to  brave  both  for  the 
pleasure  of  satisfying  my  love  for  the  antique. "  At 
which  she  handed  me  the  keys,  with  a  calm 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  I$? 

smile  which  was  not  without  its  element  of  sad 
ness. 

"  I  will  be  here  on  your  return,"  she  said,  leaning 
over  the  banisters  to  speak  to  me  as  I  took  my  first 
steps  down.  "  I  shall  want  to  hear  whether  you 
are  repaid  for  your  trouble." 

I  thanked  her  and  proceeded  on  my  way,  some 
what  doubtful  whether  by  so  doing  I  was  making 
the  best  possible  use  of  my  opportunities. 


XVII 

THE   FLOWER   PARLOR 

THE  lower  hall  did  not  correspond  exactly  with 
the  one  above.  It  was  larger,  and  through  its 
connection  with  the  front  door,  presented  the  shape 
of  a  letter  T — that  is,  to  the  superficial  observer  who 
was  not  acquainted  with  the  size  of  the  house  and 
hap!  not  had  the  opportunity  of  remarking  that  at 
the'  extremities  of  the  upper  hall  making  this  T, 
were  two  imposing  doors  usually  found  shut  except 
at  meal-times,  when  the  left-hand  one  was  thrown 
open,  disclosing  a  long  and  dismal  corridor  similar 
to  the  ones  above.  Half-way  down  this  corridor 
was  the  dining-room,  into  which  I  had  now  been 
taken  three  times. 

The  right-hand  one,  I  had  no  doubt,  led  the  way 
into  the  great  drawing-room  or  dancing-hall  which 
I  had  started  out  to  see. 

Proceeding  first  to  the  front  of  the  house,  where 
some  glimmer  of  light  penetrated  from  the  open 
sitting-room  door,  I  looked  the  keys  over  and  read 
what  was  written  on  the  several  tags  attached  to 
them.  They  were  seven  in  number,  and  bore  some 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  1 59 

such  names  as  these :  "  Blue  Chamber,"  "  Library," 
11  Flower  Parlor,"  "  Shell  Cabinet,"  "  Dark  Parlor" 
— all  of  which  was  very  suggestive,  and,  to  an  anti 
quarian  like  myself,  most  alluring. 

But  it  was  upon  a  key  marked  "  A  "  I  first  fixed 
my  attention.  This,  I  had  been  told,  would  open 
the  large  door  at  the  extremity  of  the  upper  hall, 
and  when  I  made  a  trial  with  it  I  found  it  to  move 
easily,  though  somewhat  gratingly,  in  the  lock,  re 
leasing  the  great  doors,  which  in  another  moment 
swung  inward  with  a  growling  sound  which  might 
have  been  startling  to  a  nervous  person  filled  with 
the  legends  of  the  place. 

But  in  me  the  only  emotion  awakened  was  one  of 
disgust  at  the  nauseous  character  of  the  air  which 
instantly  enveloped  me.  Had  I  wished  for  any 
further  proof  than  was  afforded  by  the  warning  given 
me  by  the  condition  of  the  hinges,  that  the  foot  of 
man  had  not  lately  invaded  these  precincts,  I  would 
have  had  it  in  the  mouldy  atmosphere  and  smell  of 
dust  that  greeted  me  on  the  threshold.  Neither 
human  breath  nor  a  ray  of  outdoor  sunshine  seemed 
to  have  disturbed  its  gloomy  quiet  for  years,  and 
when  I  moved,  as  I  presently  did,  to  open  one  of 
the  windows  I  dimly  discerned  at  my  right,  I  felt 
such  a  movement  of  something  foul  and  noisome 
amid  the  decaying  rags  of  the  carpet  through  which 
I  was  stumbling  that  I  had  to  call  into  use  the 
stronger  elements  of  my  character  not  to  back  out 


l6o  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

of  a  place  so  given  over  to  rot  and  the  creatures 
that  infest  it. 

"  What  a  spot,"  thought  I,  "  for  Amelia  Butter- 
worth  to  find  herself  in!  "  and  wondered  if  I  could 
ever  wear  again  the  three-dollar-a-yard  silk  dress  in 
which  I  was  then  enveloped.  Of  my  shoes  I  took 
no  account.  They  were  ruined,  of  course. 

I  reached  the  window  in  safety,  but  could  not 
open  it;  neither  could  I  move  the  adjoining  one. 
There  were  sixteen  in  all,  or  so  I  afterwards  found, 
and  not  till  I  reached  the  last  (you  see,  I  am  very 
persistent)  did  I  succeed  in  loosening  the  bar  that 
held  its  inner  shutter  in  place.  This  done,  I  was 
able  to  lift  the  window,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
years,  perhaps,  let  in  a  ray  of  light  into  this  deso 
lated  apartment. 

The  result  was  disappointing.  Mouldy  walls, 
worm-eaten  hangings,  two  very  ancient  and  quaint 
fireplaces,  met  my  eyes,  and  nothing  more.  The 
room  was  absolutely  empty.  For  a  few  minutes  I 
allowed  my  eyes  to  roam  over  the  great  rectangular 
space  in  which  so  much  that  was  curious  and  in 
teresting  had  once  taken  place,  and  then,  with  a 
vague  sense  of  defeat,  turned  my  eyes  outward,  anx 
ious  to  see  what  view  could  be  obtained  from  the 
window  I  had  opened.  To  my  astonishment,  I  saw 
before  me  a  high  wall  with  here  and  there  a  window 
in  it,  all  tightly  barred  and  closed,  till  by  a  careful 
inspection  about  me  I  realized  that  I  was  looking 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  l6l 

upon  the  other  wing  of  the  building,  and  that  be 
tween  these  wings  extended  a  court  so  narrow  and 
long  that  it  gave  to  the  building  the  shape,  as  I  have 
before  said,  of  the  letter  U.  A  dreary  prospect,  re 
minding  one  of  the  view  from  a  prison,  but  it  had 
its  point  of  interest,  for  in  the  court  below  me,  the 
brick  pavement  of  which  was  half  obliterated  by 
grass,  I  caught  sight  of  William  in  an  attitude  so 
different  from  any  I  had  hitherto  seen  him  assume 
that  I  found  it  difficult  to  account  for  it  till  I  caught 
sight  of  the  jaws  of  a  dog  protruding  from  under  his 
arms,  and  then  I  realized  he  was  hugging  Saracen. 

The  dog  was  tied,  but  the  comfort  which  William 
seemed  to  take  in  just  this  physical  contact  with  his 
rough  skin  was  something  worth  seeing.  It  made 
me  quite  thoughtful  for  a  moment. 

I  detest  dogs,  and  it  gives  me  a  creepy  sensation 
to  see  them  fondled,  but  sincerity  of  feeling  appeals 
to  me,  and  no  one  could  watch  William  Knollys 
with  his  dogs  without  seeing  that  he  really  loved  the 
brutes.  Thus  in  one  day  I  had  witnessed  the  best 
and  worst  side  of  this  man.  But  wait !  Had  I  seen 
the  worst  ?  I  was  not  so  sure  that  I  had. 

He  had  not  noticed  my  peering,  for  which  I  was 
duly  thankful,  and  after  another  fruitless  survey  of 
the  windows  in  the  wall  before  me,  I  drew  back  and 
prepared  to  leave  the  place.  This  was  by  no  means 
a  pleasant  undertaking.  I  could  now  see  what  I  had 
only  felt  before,  and  to  traverse  the  space  before 


1 62  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

me  amid  beetles  and  spiders  required  a  determina 
tion  of  no  ordinary  nature.  I  was  glad  when  I 
reached  the  great  doors  and  more  than  glad  when 
they  closed  behind  me. 

"  So  much  for  Room  A,"  thought  I. 

The  next  most  promising  apartment  was  in  the 
same  corridor  as  the  dining-room.  It  was  called 
the  Dark  Parlor.  Entering  it,  I  found  it  dark  in 
deed,  but  not  because  of  lack  of  light,  but  because 
its  hangings  were  all  of  a  dismal  red  and  its  furniture 
of  the  blackest  ebony.  As  this  mainly  consisted  of 
shelves  and  cabinets  placed  against  three  of  its  four 
walls,  the  effect  was  gloomy  indeed,  and  fully  ac 
counted  for  the  name  which  the  room  had  received. 
I  lingered  in  it,  however,  longer  than  I  had  in  the 
big  drawing-room,  chiefly  because  the  shelves  con 
tained  books. 

Had  anything  better  offered  I  might  not  have 
continued  my  explorations,  but  not  seeing  exactly 
how  I  could  pass  away  the  time  more  profitably,  I 
chose  out  another  key  and  began  to  search  for  the 
Flower  Parlor.  I  found  it  beyond  the  dining-room 
in  the  same  hall  as  the  Dark  Parlor. 

It  was,  as  I  might  have  expected  from  the  name, 
the  brightest  and  most  cheerful  spot  I  had  yet  found 
in  the  whole  house.  The  air  in  it  was  even  good,  as 
if  sunshine  and  breeze  had  not  be?n  altogether  shut 
out  of  it,  yet  I  had  no  sooner  taken  one  look  at  its 
flower-painted  walls  and  pretty  furniture  than  I  felt 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  163 

an  oppression  difficult  to  account  for.  Something 
was  wrong  about  this  room.  I  am  not  superstitious 
and  have  no  faith  in  premonitions,  but  once  seized 
by  a  conviction,  I  have  never  known  myself  to  be  mis 
taken  as  to  its  import.  Something  was  wrong  about 
this  room — what,  it  was  my  business  to  discover. 

Letting  in  more  light,  I  took  a  closer  survey  of 
the  objects  I  had  hitherto  seen  but  dimly.  They 
were  many  and  somewhat  contradictory  in  charac 
ter.  The  floor  was  bare — the  first  bare  floor  I  had 
come  upon — but  the  shades  in  the  windows,  the 
chintz-covered  lounges  drawn  up  beside  tables  be 
strewn  with  books  and  other  objects  of  comfort  and 
luxury,  bespoke  a  place  in  common  if  not  every-day 
use. 

A  faint  smell  of  tobacco  assured  me  in  whose  use, 
and  from  the  minute  I  recognized  that  this  was 
William's  sanctum,  my  curiosity  grew  unbounded 
and  I  neglected  nothing  which  would  be  likely  to 
attract  the  keenest-eyed  detective  in  Mr.  Gryce's 
force.  There  were  several  things  to  be  noted  there : 
First,  that  this  lumbering  lout  of  a  man  read,  but 
only  on  one  topic — vivisection ;  secondly,,  that  he 
was  not  a  reader  merely,  for  there  were  instruments 
in  the  cases  heaped  up  on  the  tables  about  me,  and 
in  one  corner — it  made  me  a  little  sick,  but  I  per 
severed  in  searching  out  the  corners — a  glass  case 
with  certain  horrors  in  it  which  I  took  care  to  note, 
but  which  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  describe. 


164  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Another  corner  was  blocked  up  by  a  closet  which 
stood  out  in  the  room  in  a  way  to  convince  me  it 
had  been  built  in  after  the  room  was  otherwise 
finished.  As  I  crossed  over  to  examine  the  door, 
which  did  not  appear  to  me  to  be  quite  closed,  I 
noticed  on  the  floor  at  my  feet  a  huge  discoloration. 
This  was  the  worst  thing  I  had  yet  encountered, 
and  while  I  did  not  feel  quite  justified  in  giving  it  a 
name,  I  could  not  but  feel  some  regret  for  the  worm- 
eaten  rags  of  the  drawing-room,  which,  after  all,  are 
more  comfortable  underfoot  than  bare  boards  with 
such  suggestive  marks  upon  them  as  these. 

The  door  to  the  closet  was,  as  I  had  expected, 
slightly  ajar,  a  fact  for  which  I  was  profoundly 
grateful,  for,  set  it  down  to  breeding  or  a  natural 
recognition  of  other  people's  rights,  I  would  have 
found  it  most  difficult  to  turn  the  knob  of  a  closet 
door,  inspection  of  which  had  not  been  offered  me. 

But  finding  it  open,  I  gave  it  just  a  little  pull  and 
found — well,  it  was  a  surprise,  much  more  so  than 
the  sight  of  a  skeleton  would  have  been — that  the 
whole  interior  was  taken  up  by  a  small  circular  stair 
case  such  as  you  find  in  public  libraries  where  the 
books  are  piled  up  in  tiers.  It  stretched  from  the 
floor  to  the  ceiling,  and  dark  as  it  was  I  thought  I 
detected  the  outlines  of  a  trap-door  by  means  of 
which  communication  was  established  with  the  room 
above.  Anxious  to  be  convinced  of  this,  I  con 
sulted  with  myself  as  to  what  a  detective  would  do 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  165 

in  my  place.  The  answer  came  readily  enough : 
"  Mount  the  stairs  and  feel  for  yourself  whether 
there  is  a  lock  there.','  But  my  delicacy  or — shall  I 
acknowledge  it  for  once  ? — an  instinct  of  timidity 
seemed  to  restrain  me,  till  a  remembrance  of  Mr. 
Gryce's  sarcastic  look  which  I  had  seen  honoring 
lesser  occasions  than  these,  came  to  nerve  me,  and 
I  put  foot  on  the  stairs  which  had  last  been  trod 
—by  whom,  shall  I  say  ?  William  ?  Let  us  hope 
by  William,  and  William  only. 

Being  tall,  I  had  to  mount  but  a  few  steps  before 
reaching  the  ceiling.  Pausing  for  breath,  the  air 
being  close  and  the  stairs  steep,  I  reached  up  and 
felt  for  the  hinge  or  clasp  I  had  every  reason  to  ex 
pect  to  encounter.  I  found  it  almost  immediately, 
and,  satisfied  now  that  nothing  but  a  board  sepa 
rated  me  from  the  room  above,  I  tried  that  board 
with  my  finger  and  was  astonished  to  feel  it  yield. 
As  this  was  a  wholly  unexpected  discovery  I  drew 
back  and  asked  myself  if  it  would  be  wise  to  pursue 
it  to  the  point  of  raising  this  door,  and  had  hardly 
settled  the  question  in  my  own  mind,  when  the 
sound  of  a  voice  raised  in  a  soothing  murmur,  re 
vealed  the  fact  that  the  room  above  was  not  empty, 
and  that  I  would  be  committing  a  grave  indiscretion 
in  thus  tampering  with  a  means  of  entrance  possibly 
under  the  very  eye  of  the  person  speaking. 

If  the  voice  I  had  heard  had  been  all  that  had 
come  to  my  ears,  I  might  have  ventured  after  a  mo- 


166  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ment  of  hesitation  to  brave  the  displeasure  of  Miss 
Knollys  by  an  attempt  which  would  have  at  once 
satisfied  me  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  suspicions 
which  were  congealing  my  blood  as  I  stood  there, 
but  another  voice — the  heavy  and  threatening  voice 
of  William — had  broken  into  this  murmur,  and  I 
knew  that  if  I  so  much  as  awakened  in  him  the  least 
suspicion  of  my  whereabouts,  I  would  have  to  dread 
an  anger  that  might  not  know  where  to  stop. 

I  therefore  rested  from  further  efforts  in  this  direc 
tion,  and  fearing  he  might  bethink  him  of  some 
errand  which  would  bring  him  to  the  trap-door  him 
self,  I  began  a  retreat  which  I  made  slow  only  from 
my  desire  not  to  make  any  noise.  I  succeeded  as 
well  as  if  my  feet  had  been  shod  in  velvet  and  my 
dress  had  been  made  of  wool  instead  of  a  rustling 
silk,  and  when  once  again  I  found  myself  planted  in 
the  centre  of  the  Flower  Parlor,  the  closet  door 
closed,  and  no  evidence  remaining  of  my  late  at 
tempt  to  probe  this  family  secret,  I  drew  a  deep 
breath  of  relief  that  was  but  a  symbol  of  my  devout 
thankfulness. 

I  did  not  mean  to  remain  much  longer  in  this  spot 
of  evil  suggestions,  but  spying  the  corner  of  a  book 
protruding  from  under  a  cushion  of  one  of  the 
lounges,  I  had  a  curiosity  to  see  if  it  were  similar  to 
the  others  I  had  handled.  Drawing  it  out,  I  took 
one  look  at  it. 

I  need  not  tell  what  it  was,  but  after  a  hasty 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  l6? 

glance  here  and  there  through  its  pages,  I  put  it 
back,  shuddering.  If  any  doubt  remained  in  my 
breast  that  William  was  one  of  those  monsters  who 
feed  their  morbid  cravings  by  experiments  upon  the 
weak  and  defenceless,  it  had  been  dispelled  by  what 
I  had  just  seen  in  this  book. 

However,  I  did  not  leave  the  room  immediately. 
As  it  was  of  the  greatest  importance  that  I  should 
be  able  to  locate  in  which  of  the  many  apartments 
on  the  floor  above,  the  supposed  prisoner  was 
lodged,  I  cast  about  me  for  the  means  of  doing  this 
through  the  location  of  the  room  in  which  I  then 
was.  As  this  could  only  be  done  by  affixing  some 
token  to  the  window,  which  could  be  recognized 
from  without,  I  thought,  first,  of  thrusting  the  end 
of  my  handkerchief  through  one  of  the  slats  of  the 
outside  blinds;  secondly,  of  simply  leaving  one  of 
these  blinds  ajar;  and  finally,  of  chipping  off  a  piece 
with  the  penknife  I  always  carry  with  innumerable 
other  small  things  in  the  bag  I  invariably  wear  at 
my  side.  (Fashion,  I  hold,  counts  for  nothing 
against  convenience.) 

This  last  seemed  by  much  the  best  device.  A 
handkerchief  could  be  discovered  and  pulled  out,  an 
open  blind  could  be  shut,  but  a  sliver  once  separated 
from  the  wood  of  the  casement,  nothing  could  re 
place  it  or  even  cover  it  up  without  itself  attracting 
attention. 

Taking  out  my  knife,  I  glanced  at  the  door  lead- 


1 68  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ing  into  the  hall,  found  it  still  shut  and  everything 
quiet  behind  it.  Then  I  took  a  look  into  the  shrubs 
and  bushes  of  the  yard  outside,  and,  observing 
nothing  to  disturb  me,  snipped  off  a  bit  from  one  of 
the  outer  edges  of  the  slats  and  then  carefully  re- 
closed  the  blinds  and  the  window. 

I  was  crossing  the  threshold  when  I  heard  a  rapid 
footstep  in  the  hall.  Miss  Knollys  was  hastening 
down  the  hall  to  my  side. 

"  Oh,  Miss  Butterworth,"  she  exclaimed,  with 
one  quick  look  into  the  room  I  was  leaving,  "  this 
is  William's  den,  the  one  spot  he  never  allows  any 
of  us  to  enter.  I  don't  know  how  the  key  came  to 
be  upon  the  string.  It  never  was  before,  and  I  am 
afraid  he  never  will  forgive  me." 

"  He  need  never  know  that  I  have  been  the  victim 
of  such  a  mistake,"  said  L  "  My  feet  leave  no 
trail,  and  as  I  use  no  perfumes  he  will  never  suspect 
that  I  have  enjoyed  a  glimpse  of  these  old-fashioned 
walls  and  ancient  cabinets." 

"  The  slats  of  the  blinds  are  a  little  open,"  she 
remarked,  her  eyes  searching  my  face  for  some  sign 
that  I  am  sure  she  did  not  find  there.  '  Were  they 
so  when  you  came  in  ?  " 

"  I  hardly  think  so;  it  was  very  dark.  Shall  I 
put  them  as  I  found  them  ?  " 

"  No.  He  will  not  notice."  And  she  hurried 
me  out,  still  eying  me  breathlessly  as  if  she  half 
distrusted  my  composure. 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  169 

"  Come,  Amelia,"  I  now  whispered  in  self- 
admonition,  "  the  time  for  exertion  has  come. 
Show  this  young  woman,  who  is  not  much  behind 
you  in  self-control,  some  of  the  lighter  phases  of 
your  character.  Charm  her,  Amelia,  charm  her,  or 
you  may  live  to  rue  this  invasion  into  family  secrets 
more  than  you  may  like  to  acknowledge  at  the 
present  moment." 

A  task  of  some  difficulty,  but  I  rejoice  in  difficult 
tasks,  and  before  another  half-hour  had  passed,  I  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  Miss  Knollys  entirely  re 
stored  to  that  state  of  placid  melancholy  which  was  the 
natural  expression  of  her  calm  but  unhappy  nature. 

We  visited  the  Shell  Cabinet,  the  Blue  Parlor, 
and  another  room,  the  peculiarities  of  which  I  have 
forgotten.  Frightened  by  the  result  of  leaving  me 
to  my  own  devices,  she  did  not  quit  me  for  an 
instant,  and  when,  my  curiosity  quite  satisfied,  I 
hinted  that  a  short  nap  in  my  own  room  would  rest 
me  for  the  evening,  she  proceeded  with  me  to  the 
door  of  my  apartment. 

The  locksmith  whom  I  saw  this  morning  has  not 
kept  his  word,"  I  remarked  as  she  was  turning  away. 

"  None  of  the  tradesmen  here  do  that,"  was  her 
cold  answer.  "  I  have  given  up  expecting  having 
any  attention  paid  to  my  wants." 

14  Humph,"  thought  I.  "  Another  pleasant  ad 
mission.  Amelia  Butterworth,  this  has  not  been  a 
cheerful  day." 


XVIII 

THE   SECOND   NIGHT 

I  CANNOT  say  that  I  looked  forward  to  the  night 
with  any  very  cheerful  anticipations.  The  lock 
smith  having  failed  to  keep  his  appointment,  I  was 
likely  to  have  no  more  protection  against  intrusion 
than  I  had  had  the  night  before,  and  while  I  cannot 
say  that  I  especially  feared  any  unwelcome  entrance 
into  my  apartment,  I  should  have  gone  to  my  rest 
with  a  greater  sense  of  satisfaction  if  a  key  had  been 
in  the  lock  and  that  key  had  been  turned  by  my 
own  hand  on  my  own  side  of  the  door. 

The  atmosphere  of  gloom  which  settled  down 
over  the  household  after  the  evening  meal,  seemed 
like  the  warning  note  of  something  strange  and  evil 
awaiting  us.  So  marked  was  this,  that  many  in  my 
situation  would  have  further  disturbed  these  girls 
by  some  allusion  to  the  fact.  But  that  was  not  the 
rcle  I  had  set  myself  to  play  at  this  crisis.  I  re 
membered  what  Mr.  Gryce  had  said  about  winning 
their  confidence,  and  though  the  turmoil  evident  in 
Lucetta's  mind  and  the  distraction  visible  even  in 
the  careful  Miss  Knollys  led  me  to  expect  a  culmi- 

170 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  1?I 

nation  of  some  kind  before  the  night  was  over,  I  not 
only  hid  my  recognition  of  this  fact,  but  succeeded 
in  sufficiently  impressing  them  with  the  contentment 
which  my  own  petty  employments  afforded  me  (I 
am  never  idle  even  in  other  persons'  houses)  for 
them  to  spare  me  the  harassment  of  their  alternate 
visits,  which,  in  their  present  mood  and  mine  prom 
ised  little  in  the  way  of. increased  knowledge  of  theii 
purposes  and  much  in  the  way  of  distraction  and 
the  loss  of  that  nerve  upon  which  I  calculated  for  a 
successful  issue  out  of  the  possible  difficulties  of  this 
night. 

Had  I  been  a  woman  of  ordinary  courage,  I  would 
have  sounded  three  premonitory  notes  upon  my 
whistle  before  blowing  out  my  candle,  but  while  I 
am  not  lacking,  I  hope,  in  many  of  the  finer  femi 
nine  qualities  which  link  me  to  my  sex,  I  have  but 
few  of  that  sex's  weaknesses  and  none  of  its  instinc 
tive  reliance  upon  others  which  leads  it  so  often  to 
neglect  its  own  resources.  Till  I  saw  good  reasons 
for  summoning  the  police,  I  proposed  to  preserve  a 
discreet  silence,  a  premature  alarm  being  in  their 
eyes,  as  I  knew  from  many  talks  with  Mr.  Gryce, 
the  one  thing  suggestive  of  a  timid  and  inexperi 
enced  mind. 

Hannah  had  brought  me  a  delicious  cup  of  tea  at 
ten,  the  influence  of  which  was  to  make  me  very 
drowsy  at  eleven,  but  I  shook  this  weakness  off  and 
began  my  night's  watch  in  a  state  of  stern  compos- 


1^2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ure  which  I  verily  believe  would  have  awakened  Mr. 
Gryce's  admiration  had  it  been  consonant  with  the 
proprieties  for  him  to  have  seen  it.  Indeed  the 
very  seriousness  of  the  occasion  was  such  that  I 
could  not  have  trembled  if  I  would,  every  nerve 
and  faculty  being  strained  to  their  utmost  to  make 
the  most  of  every  sound  which  might  arise  in  the 
now  silent  and  discreetly  darkened  house. 

I  had  purposely  omitted  the  precaution  of  push 
ing  my  bed  against  the  door  of  my  room,  as  I  had 
done  the  night  before,  being  anxious  to  find  myself 
in  a  position  to  cross  its  threshold  at  the  least  alarm. 
That  this  would  come,  I  felt  positive,  for  Hannah 
in  leaving  my  room  had  taken  pains  to  say,  in  un 
conscious  imitation  of  what  Miss  Knollys  had  re 
marked  the  night  before : 

"  Don't  let  any  queer  sounds  you  may  hear  dis 
turb  you,  Miss  Butterworth.  There  's  nothing  to 
hurt  you  in  this  house;  nothing  at  all."  An  ad 
monition  which  I  am  sure  her  young  mistresses 
would  not  have  allowed  her  to  utter  if  they  had 
been  made  acquainted  with  her  intention. 

But  though  in  a  state  of  high  expectation,  and 
listening,  as  I  supposed,  with  every  faculty  alert, 
the  sounds  I  apprehended  delayed  so  long  that  I 
began  after  an  hour  or  two  unaccountably  to  nod  in 
my  chair,  and  before  I  knew  it  I  was  asleep,  with 
the  whistle  in  my  hand  and  my  feet  pressed  against 
the  panels  of  the  door  I  had  set  myself  to  guard. 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR 

How  deep  that  sleep  was  or  how  long  I  indulged  in 
it,  I  can  only  judge  from  the  state  of  emotion  in 
which  I  found  myself  when  I  suddenly  woke.  I 
was  sitting  there  still,  but  my  usually  calm  frame 
was  in  a  violent  tremble,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to 
stir,  much  more  to  speak.  Some  one  or  something 
was  at  my  door. 

An  instant  and  my  powerful  nature  would  have 
asserted  itself,  but  before  this  could  happen  the 
stealthy  step  drew  nearer,  and  I  heard  the  quiet,  al 
most  noiseless,  insertion  of  a  key  into  the  lock,  and 
the  quick  turn  which  made  me  a  prisoner. 

This,  with  the  indignation  it  caused,  brought  me 
quickly  to  myself.  So  the  door  had  a  key  after  all, 
and  this  was  the  use  it  was  reserved  for.  Rising 
quickly  to  my  feet,  I  shouted  out  the  names  of 
Loreen,  Lucetta,  and  William,  but  received  no 
other  response  than  the  rapid  withdrawal  of  feet 
down  the  corridor.  Then  I  felt  for  the  whistle, 
which  had  somehow  slipped  from  my  hand,  but 
failed  to  find  it  in  the  darkness,  nor  when  I  went  to 
search  for  the  matches  to  relight  the  candle  I  had 
left  standing  on  a  table  near  by,  could  I  by  any 
means  succeed  in  igniting  one,  so  that  I  presently 
had  the  pleasure  of  finding  myself  shut  up  in  my 
room,  with  no  means  of  communicating  with  the 
world  outside  and  with  no  light  to  render  the  situa 
tion  tolerable.  This  was  having  the  tables  turned 
upon  me  with  a  vengeance  and  in  a  way  for  which  I 


LOST  MAN'S  LANE 


could  not  account.  I  could  understand  why  they 
had  locked  me  in  the  room  and  why  they  had  not 
heeded  my  cry  of  indignant  appeal,  but  I  could  not 
comprehend  how  my  whistle  came  to  be  gone,  nor 
why  the  matches,  which  were  sufficiently  plentiful  in 
the  safe,  refused  one  and  all  to  perform  their  office. 
On  these  points  I  felt  it  necessary  to  come  to 
some  sort  of  conclusion  before  I  proceeded  to  invent 
some  way  out  of  my  difficulties.  So,  dropping  on 
my  knees  by  the  chair  in  which  I  had  been  sitting, 
I  began  a  quiet  search  for  the  petty  object  upon 
which,  nevertheless,  hung  not  my  safety  perhaps, 
but  all  chances  of  success  in  an  undertaking  which 
was  every  moment  growing  more  serious.  I  did  not 
find  it,  but  I  did  find  where  it  had  gone.  In  the 
floor  near  the  door,  my  hand  encountered  a  hole 
which  had  been  covered  up  by  a  rug  early  in  the 
evening,  but  which  I  now  distinctly  remembered 
having  pushed  aside  with  my  feet  when  I  took  my 
seat  there.  This  aperture  was  not  large,  but  it  was 
so  deep  that  my  hand  failed  to  reach  to  the  bottom 
of  it  ;  and  into  this  hole  by  some  freak  of  chance 
had  slipped  the  small  whistle  I  had  so  indiscreetly 
taken  into  my  hand.  The  mystery  of  the  matches 
was  less  easy  of  solution  ;  so  I  let  it  go  after  a  mo 
ment  of  indecisive  thought  and  bent  my  energies 
once  again  to  listen,  when  suddenly  and  without  the 
least  warning  there  rose  from  somewhere  in  the 
house  a  cry  so  wild  and  unearthly  that  I  started  up 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  175 

appalled,  and  for  a  moment  could  not  tell  whether 
I  was  laboring  under  some  fearful  dream  or  a  still 
more  fearful  reality. 

A  rushing  of  feet  in  the  distance  and  an  involun 
tary  murmur  of  voices  soon  satisfied  me,  however, 
on  this  score,  and  drawing  upon  every  energy  I 
possessed,  I  listened  for  a  renewal  of  the  cry  which 
was  yet  curdling  my  blood.  But  none  came,  and 
presently  all  was  as  still  as  if  no  sound  had  arisen  to 
disturb  the  midnight,  though  every  fibre  in  my 
body  told  me  that  the  event  I  had  feared — the  event 
of  which  I  hardly  dared  mention  the  character 
even  to  myself — had  taken  place,  and  that  I,  who 
was  sent  there  to  forestall  it,  was  not  only  a  prisoner 
in  my  room,  but  a  prisoner  through  my  own  folly 
and  my  inordinate  love  of  tea. 

The  anger  with  which  I  contemplated  this  fact, 
and  the  remorse  I  felt  at  the  consequences  which 
had  befallen  the  innocent  victim  whose  scream  I 
had  just  heard,  made  me  very  wide-awake  indeed, 
and  after  an  ineffectual  effort  to  make  my  voice 
heard  from  the  window,  I  called  my  usual  philos 
ophy  to  my  aid  and  decided  that  since  the  worst 
had  happened  and  I,  a  prisoner,  had  to  await  events 
like  any  other  weak  and  defenceless  woman,  I  might 
as  well  do  it  with  calmness  and  in  a  way  to  win  my 
own  approval  at  least.  The  dupe  of  William  and 
his  sisters,  I  would  not  be  the  dupe  of  my  own  fears 
or  even  of  my  own  regrets. 


176  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

The  consequence  was  a  renewed  equanimity  and 
a  gentle  brooding  over  the  one  event  of  the  day 
which  brought  no  regret  in  its  train.  The  ride  with 
Mr.  Trohm,  and  the  acquaintanceship  to  which  it 
had  led,  were  topics  upon  which  I  could  rest  with 
great  soothing  effect  through  the  weary  hours 
stretching  between  me  and  daylight.  Consequently 
of  Mr.  Trohm  I  thought. 

Whether  the  almost  deathly  quiet  into  which  the 
house  had  now  fallen,  or  the  comforting  nature  of 
my  meditations  held  inexorably  to  the  topic  I  had 
chosen,  acted  as  a  soporific  upon  me  I  cannot  tell, 
but  greatly  as  I  dislike  to  admit  it,  feeling  sure  that 
you  will  expect  to  hear  I  kept  myself  awake  all  that 
night,  I  insensibly  sank  from  great  alertness  to  an 
easy  indifference  to  my  surroundings,  and  from  that 
to  vague  dreams  in  which  beds  of  lilies  and  trellises 
covered  with  roses  mingled  strangely  with  narrow, 
winding  staircases  whose  tops  ended  in  the  swaying 
branches  of  great  trees;  and  so,  into  quiet  and  a 
nothingness  that  were  only  broken  into  by  a  rap  at 
my  door  and  a  cheerful: 

"  Eight  o'clock,  ma'am.  The  young  ladies  are 
waiting." 

I  bounded,  literally  bounded  from  my  chair. 
Such  a  summons,  after  such  a  night!  What  did  it 
mean  ?  I  was  sitting  half  dressed  in  my  chair  be 
fore  my  door  in  a  straightened  and  uncomfortable 
attitude,  and  therefore  had  not  dreamed  that  I  had 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  IJJ 

been  upon  the  watch  all  night,  yet  the  sunshine  in 
the  room,  the  cheery  tones  such  as  I  had  not  heard 
even  from  this  woman  before,  seemed  to  argue  that 
my  imagination  had  played  me  false  and  that  no 
horrors  had  come  to  disturb  my  rest  or  render  my 
waking  distressing. 

Stretching  out  my  hand  toward  the  door,  I  was 
about  to  open  it,  when  I  bethought  me. 

'  Turn  the  key  in  the  lock,"  said  I.  "  Somebody 
was  careful  enough  of  my  safety  to  fasten  me  in  last 
night." 

An  exclamation  of  astonishment  came  from  out 
side  the  door. 

'  There  is  no  key  here,  ma'am.  The  door  is  not 
locked.  Shall  I  open  it  and  come  in  ?  " 

I  was  about  to  say  yes  in  my  anxiety  to  talk  to 
the  woman,  but  remembering  that  nothing  was  to 
be  gained  by  letting  it  be  seen  to  what  an  extent  I 
had  carried  my  suspicions,  I  hastily  disrobed  and 
crept  into  bed.  Pulling  the  coverings  about  me,  I 
assumed  a  comfortable  attitude  and  then  cried : 

"  Come  in." 

The  door  immediately  opened. 

"  There,  ma'am  !  What  did  I  tell  you  ?  Locked? 
— this  door  ?  Why,  the  key  has  been  lost  for 
months." 

"  I  cannot  help  it,"  I  protested,  but  with  little  if 
any  asperity,  for  it  did  not  suit  me  that  she  should 
see  I  was  moved  by  any  extraordinary  feeling.  "  A 


1/8  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

key  was  put  in  that  lock  about  midnight,  and  I  was 
locked  in.  It  was  about  the  time  some  one  screamed 
in  your  own  part  of  the  house." 

"  Screamed  ?  "  Her  brows  took  a  fine  pucker  of 
perplexity.  "  Oh,  that  must  have  been  Miss 
Lucetta." 

"  Lucetta  ?" 

"Yes,  ma'am;  she  had  an  attack,  I  believe. 
Poor  Miss  Lucetta  !  She  often  has  attacks  like 
that." 

Confounded,  for  the  woman  spoke  so  naturally 
that  only  a  suspicious  nature  like  mine  would  fail  to 
have  been  deceived  by  it,  I  raised  myself  on  my 
elbow  and  gave  her  an  indignant  look. 

'  Yet  you  said  just  now  that  the  young  ladies 
were  expecting  me  to  breakfast." 

'  Yes,  and  why  not  ?  "  Her  look  was  absolutely 
guileless.  "  Miss  Lucetta  sometimes  keeps  us  up 
half  the  night,  but  she  does  not  miss  breakfast  on 
that  account.  When  the  turn  is  over,  she  is  as  well 
as  ever  she  was.  A  fine  young  lady,  Miss  Lucetta. 
I  'd  lose  my  two  hands  for  her  any  day." 

"  She  certainly  is  a  remarkable  girl,"  I  declared, 
not,  however,  as  dryly  as  I  felt.  "  I  can  hardly  be 
lieve  I  dreamed  about  the  key.  Let  me  feel  of  your 
pocket,"  I  laughed. 

She,  without  the  smallest  hesitancy,  pulled  aside 
her  apron. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  put  so  little  confidence  in  my 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR 

word,  ma'am,  but  Lor'  me,  what  you  heard  is 
nothing  to  what  some  of  our  guests  have  com 
plained  of — in  the  days,  I  mean,  when  we  did  have 
guests.  I  have  known  them  to  scream  out  them 
selves  in  the  middle  of  the  night  and  vow  they  saw 
white  figures  creeping  up  and  down  the  halls — all 
nonsense,  ma'am,  but  believed  in  by  some  folks. 
You  don't  look  as  if  you  believed  in  ghosts." 

"  And  I  don't,"  I  said,  "  not  a  whit.  It  would 
be  a  poor  way  to  try  to  frighten  me.  How  is  Mr. 
William  this  morning  ?  " 

"  Oh,  he  's  well  and  feeding  the  dogs,  ma'am. 
What  made  you  think  of  him  ?  " 

"  Politeness,  Hannah,"  I  found  myself  forced  to 
say.  "  He  's  the  only  man  in  the  house.  Why 
should  n't  I  think  of  him?  " 

She  fingered  her  apron  a  minute  and  laughed. 

"  I  did  n't  know  you  liked  him.  He  's  so  rough, 
it  is  n't  everybody  who  understands  him,"  she 
said. 

"  Must  one  understand  a  person  to  like  him  ?  "  I 
queried  good-humoredly.  I  was  beginning  to  think 
I  might  have  dreamed  about  that  key. 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said,  "  I  don't  always 
understand  Miss  Lucetta,  but  I  like  her  through  and 
through,  ma'am,  as  I  like  this  little  finger,"  and 
holding  up  this  member  to  my  inspection,  she 
crossed  the  room  for  my  water-pitcher,  which  she 
proposed  to  fill  with  hot  water. 


180  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  followed  her  closely  with  my  eyes.  When  she 
came  back,  I  saw  her  attention  caught  by  the  break 
in  the  flooring,  which  she  had  not  noticed  on  enter 
ing. 

"Oh,"  she  exclaimed,  "what  a  shame!"  her 
honest  face  coloring  as  she  drew  the  rug  back  over 
the  small  black  gap.  "  I  am  sure,  ma'am,"  she 
cried,  "  you  must  think  very  poorly  of  us.  But  I 
assure  you,  ma'am,  it  's  honest  poverty,  nothing 
but  honest  poverty  as  makes  them  so  neglectful," 
and  with  an  air  as  far  removed  from  mystery  as  her 
frank,  good-natured  manner  seemed  to  be  from  false 
hood,  she  slid  from  the  room  with  a  kind : 

"  Don't  hurry,  ma'am.  It  is  Miss  Knollys'  turn 
in  the  kitchen,  and  she  is  n't  as  quick  as  Miss 
Lucetta." 

"  Humph,"  thought  I,  "  supposing  I  had  called 
in  the  police." 

But  by  the  time  she  had  returned  with  the  water, 
my  doubts  had  reawakened.  .  She  was  not  changed 
in  manner,  though  I  have  no  doubt  she  had  re 
counted  all  that  I  had  said,  below,  but  I  was,  for  I 
remembered  the  matches  and  thought  I  saw  a  way 
of  tripping  her  up  in  her  self-complacency. 

Just  as  she  was  leaving  me  for  the  second  time  I 
called  her  back. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  your  matches?"  I 
asked.  "  I  could  n't  make  them  light  last  night." 

With  a  wholly  undisturbed  countenance  she  turned 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  l8l 

toward  the  bureau  and  took  up  the  china  trinket 
that  held  the  few  remaining  matches  I  had  not 
scraped  on  the  piece  of  sandpaper  I  myself  had 
fastened  up  alongside  the  door.  A  sheepish  cry  of 
dismay  at  once  escaped  her. 

"Why,  these  are  old  matches!"  she  declared, 
showing  me  the  box  in  which  a  half-dozen  or  so 
burned  matches  stood  with  their  burned  tops  all 
turned  down. 

!<  I  thought  they  were  all  right.  I  'm  afraid  we 
are  a  little  short  of  matches." 

I  did  not  like  to  tell  her  what  I  thought  about  it, 
but  it  made  me  doubly  anxious  to  join  the  young 
ladies  at  breakfast  and  judge  for  myself  from  their 
conduct  and  expression  if  I  had  been  deceived  by 
my  own  fears  into  taking  for  realities  the  phantasies 
of  a  nightmare,  or  whether  I  was  correct  in  ascribing 
to  fact  that  episode  of  the  key  with  all  the  possibili 
ties  that  lay  behind  it. 

I  did  not  let  my  anxiety,  however,  stand  in  the 
way  of  my  duty.  Mr.  Gryce  had  bid  me  carry  the 
whistle  he  had  sent  me  constantly  about  my  per 
son,  and  I  felt  that  he  would  have  the  right  to  re 
proach  me  if  I  left  my  room  without  making  some 
endeavor  to  recover  this  lost  article.  How  to  do 
this  without  aid  or  appliances  of  any  kind  was  a 
problem.  I  knew  where  it  was,  but  I  could  not  see 
it,  much  less  reach  it.  Besides,  they  were  waiting 
for  me — never  a  pleasant  thought.  It  occurred  to 


1 82  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

me  that  I  might  lower  into  the  hole  a  lighted  candle 
hung  by  a  string. 

Looking  over  my  effects,  I  chose  out  a  hairpin,  a 
candle,  and  two  corset  laces,  (Pardon  me.  I  am  as 
modest  as  most  of  my  sex,  but  I  am  not  squeamish. 
Corset  laces  are  strings,  and  as  such  only  I  present 
them  to  your  notice.)  I  should  like  to  have  adder' 
a  button-hook  to  my  collection,  but  not  having  a, 
yet  discarded  the  neatly  laced  boot  of  my  ancestois, 
I  could  only  produce  a  small  article  from  my  toilet- 
service  which  shall  remain  unmentioned,  as  I  pres 
ently  .discarded  it  and  turned  my  whole  attention 
to  the  other  objects  I  have  named.  A  poor  array, 
but  out  of  them  I  hoped  to  find  the  means  of  fish 
ing  up  my  lost  whistle. 

My  intention  was  to  lower  first  a  lighted  candle 
into  the  hole  by  means  of  a  string  tied  about  its 
middle,  then  to  drop  a  line  on  the  whistle  thus  dis 
covered  and  draw  it  up  with  the  point  of  a  bent 
hairpin,  which  I  fondly  hoped  I  could  make  do  the 
service  of  a  hook.  To  think  was  to  try.  The 
candle  was  soon  down  in  the  hole,  and  by  its  light 
the  whistle  was  easily  seen.  The  string  and  bent 
hairpin  went  down  next.  I  was  successful  in  hook 
ing  the  prize  and  proceeded  to  pull  it  up  with  great 
care.  For  an  instant  I  realized  what  a  ridiculous 
figure  I  was  cutting,  stooping  over  a  hole  in  the 
floor  on  both  knees,  a  string  in  each  hand,  leading 
apparently  to  nowhere,  and  I  at  work  cautiously 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  183 

steadying  one  and  as  carefully  pulling  on  the  other. 
Having  hooked  the  string  holding  the  whistle  over 
the  first  finger  of  the  hand  holding  the  candle,  I 
may  have  become  too  self-conscious  to  notice  the 
slight  release  of  weight  on  the  whistle  hand.  What 
ever  the  reason,  when  the  end  of  the  string  came  in 
sight  there  was  no  whistle  on  it.  The  charred  end 
showed  me  that  the  candle  had  burned  the  cord, 
letting  the  whistle  fall  again  out  of  reach.  Down 
went  the  candle  again.  It  touched  bottom,  but  no 
whistle  was  to  be  seen.  After  a  long  and  fruitless 
search,  I  concluded  to  abandon  my  whistle-fishing 
excursion,  and,  rising  from  my  cramped  and  un 
dignified  position,  I  proceeded  to  pull  up  the  candle. 
To  my  surprise  and  delight,  I  found  the  whistle 
firmly  stuck  to  the  lower  side  of  it.  Some  drops  of 
candle  grease  had  fallen  upon  the  whistle  where  it 
lay.  The  candle  coming  in  contact  with  it,  the  two 
had  adhered,  and  I  became  indebted  to  accident 
rather  than  to  acumen  for  the  restoration  of  the 
precious  article. 


XIX 

A  KNOT  OF  CRAPE 

I  WAS  prepared  for  some  change  in  the  appear 
ance  of  my  young  hostesses,  but  not  for  so  great 
a  one  as  I  saw  on  entering  the  dining-room  '  lat 
memorable  morning.  The  blinds,  which  were  al 
ways  half  closed,  were  now  wide  open,  and  under 
the  cheerful  influence  of  the  light  which  was  thus 
allowed  to  enter,  the  table  and  all  its  appointments 
had  a  much  less  dreary  look  than  before.  Behind 
the  urn  sat  Miss  Knollys,  with  a  smile  on  her  lips, 
and  in  the  window  William  stood  whistling  a  cheer 
ful  air,  unrebuked.  Lucetta  was  not  present,  but 
to  my  great  astonishment  she  presently  walked  in 
with  her  hands  laden  with  sprays  of  morning-glory, 
which  she  flung  down  in  the  centre  of  the  board. 
It  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen  any  attempt  made 
by  any  of  them  to  lighten  the  sombreness  of  their 
surroundings,  and  it  was  also  the  first  time  I  had 
seen  the  three  together. 

I  was  more  disconcerted  by  this  simple  show  of 
improved  spirits  than  I  like  to  acknowledge.  In 
the  first  place,  they  were  natural  and  not  forced ; 

184 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  185 

and,  secondly,  they  were  to  all  appearance  uncon 
scious. 

They  were  not  marked  enough  to  show  relief,  and 
in  Lucetta  especially  did  not  serve  to  hide  the 
underlying  melancholy  of  a  disappointed  girl,  yet  it 
was  not  what  I  expected  from  my  supposed  experi 
ences  of  the  night,  and  led  me  to  answer  a  little 
warily  when,  with  a  frank  laugh,  Loreen  exclaimed  : 

So  you  have  lost  your  character  as  a  practical 
woman,  Miss  Butterworth  ?  Hannah  tells  me  you 
were  the;  victim  of  a  ghostly  visit  last  night." 

Hannah  gossips  unmercifully,"  was  my  cautious 
and  somewhat  peevish  reply.  "  If  I  chose  to  dream 
that  I  was  locked  into  my  room  by  some  erratic 
spectre,  I  cannot  see  why  she  should  take  the  con 
fession  of  my  folly  out  of  my  mouth.  I  was  going 
to  relate  the  fact  myself,  with  all  the  accompani 
ments  of  rushing  steps  and  wild  and  unearthly  cries 
which  are  expected  by  the  listeners  to  a  veritable 
ghost  story.  But  now  I  have  simply  to  defend  my 
self  from  a  charge  of  credulity.  It  's  too  bad,  Miss 
Knollyc,  much  too  bad.  I  did  not  come  to  a 
haunted  house  for  this." 

My  manner,  rather  than  my  words,  seemed  to  com 
pletely  deceive  them.  Perhaps  it  deceived  myself, 
for  I  began  to  feel  a  loss  of  the  depression  which 
had  weighed  upon  me  ever  since  that  scream  rang  in 
my  ears  at  midnight.  It  disappeared  still  further 
when  Lucetta  said: 


1 86  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

If  your  ramblings  through  the  old  rooms  on  this 
floor  were  the  occasion  of  this  nightmare,  you  must 
be  prepared  for  a  recurrence  of  the  same  to-night, 
for  I  am  going  to  take  you  through  the  upper  rooms 
myself  this  morning.  Is  n't  that  the  programme, 
Loreen  ?  Or  have  you  changed  your  mind  and 
planned  a  drive  for  Miss  Butterworth  ?  " 

She  shall  do  both,"  Loreen  answered.  '  When 
she  is  tired  of  tramping  through  dusty  chambers  and 
examining  the  decayed  remnants  of  old  furniture 
which  encumber  them,  William  stands  ready  to 
drive  her  over  the  hills,  where  she  will  find  views 
well  worth  her  attention." 

Thank  you,"  said  I.  "  It  is  a  pleasant  prospect." 
But  inwardly  I  uttered  anything  but  thanks;  rather 
asked  myself  if  I  had  not  played  the  part  of  a  fool 
in  ascribing  so  much  importance  to  the  events  of  the 
past  night,  and  decided  almost  without  an  argument 
that  I  had. 

However,  beliefs  die  hard  in  a  mind  like  mine, 
and  though  I  was  ready  to  consider  that  an  inflamed 
imagination  may  often  carry  us  beyond  the  bounds 
of  fact  and  even  into  the  realm  of  fancy  and  mis 
conception,  I  yet  was  not  ready  to  give  up  my  sus 
picions  altogether,  or  to  acknowledge  that  I  had  no 
foundation  for  the  fear  that  something  uncanny  if 
not  awful  had  taken  place  under  this  roof  the  night 
before.  The  very  naturalness  I  observed  in  this 
hitherto  restrained  trio  might  be  the  result  of  the 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  l8/ 

removal  of  some  great  strain,  and  if  that  was  the 
case —  Ah,  well,  alertness  is  the  motto  of  the  truly 
wise.  It  is  when  vigilance  sleeps  that  the  enemy 
gains  the  victory.  I  would  not  let  myself  be  de 
ceived  even  at  the  cost  of  a  little  ridicule.  Amelia 
Butterworth  was  still  awake,  even  under  a  semblance 
of  well-laid  suspicion. 

My  footsteps  were  not  dogged  after  this  as  they 
had  hitherto  been  in  my  movements  about  the 
house.  I  was  allowed  to  go  and  come  and  even  to 
stray  into  the  second  long  corridor,  without  any 
other  let  than  my  own  discretion  and  good  breeding. 
Lucetta  joined  me,  to  be  sure,  after  a  while,  but  only 
as  guide  and  companion.  She  took  me  into  rooms 
I  forgot  the  next  minute,  and  into  others  I  remem 
ber  to  this  day  as  quaint  memorials  of  a  past  ever 
and  always  interesting  to  me.  We  ransacked  the 
house,  yet  after  all  was  over  and  I  sat  down  to  rest 
in  my  own  room,  two  formidable  questions  rose  in 
my  mind  for  which  I  found  no  satisfactory  answer. 
Why,  with  so  many  more  or  less  attractive  bed 
chambers  at  their  command,  had  they  chosen  to  put 
me  into  a  hole,  where  the  very  flooring  was  unsafe, 
and  the  outlook  the  most  dismal  that  could  be  im 
agined?  and  why,  in  all  our  peregrinations  in  and 
out  of  rooms,  had  we  always  passed  one  door  with 
out  entering  ?  She  had  said  that  it  was  William's — 
a  sufficient  explanation,  if  true,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
it  was, — but  the  change  of  countenance  with  which 


1 88  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

she  passed  it  and  the  sudden  lightening  of  her  tread 
(so  instinctive  that  she  was  totally  unconscious  of  it) 
marked  that  door  as  one  it  would  be  my  duty  to 
enter  if  fate  should  yet  give  me  the  opportunity. 
That  it  was  the  one  in  communication  with  the 
Flower  Parlor  I  felt  satisfied,  but  in  order  to  make 
assurance  doubly  sure  I  resolved  upon  a  tour 
through  the  shrubbery  outside,  that  I  might  com 
pare  the  location  of  the  window  having  the  chipped 
blind  with  that  of  this  room,  which  was,  as  well  as 
I  could  calculate,  the  third  from  the  rear  on  the 
left-hand  side. 

When,  therefore,  William  called  up  to  know  if  I 
was  ready  for  my  drive,  I  answered  back  that  I 
found  myself  very  tired  and  would  be  glad  to  ex 
change  the  pleasure  he  offered,  for  a  visit  to  the 
stables. 

This,  as  I  expected,  caused  considerable  comment 
and  some  disturbance.  They  wanted  me  to  repeat 
my  experience  of  the  day  before  and  spend  two  if 
not  more  hours  of  the  morning  out  of  the  house. 
But  I  did  not  mean  to  gratify  them.  Indeed  I  felt 
that  my  duty  held  me  to  the  house,  and  was  so  per 
sistent  in  my  wishes,  or  rather  in  my  declaration  of 
them,  that  all  opposition  had  to  give  way,  even  in 
the  stubborn  William. 

I  thought  you  had  a  dread  of  dogs,"  was  the 
final  remark  with  which  he  endeavored  to  turn  me 
aside  from  my  purpose.  "  I  have  three  in  the  barn 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  189 

and  two  in  the  stable,  and  they  make  a  great  fuss 
when  I  come  around,  I  assure  you." 

Then  they  will  have  enough  to  do  without 
noticing  me,"  said  I,  with  a  brazen  assumption  of 
courage  sufficiently  surprising  if  I  had  had  any  real 
intention  of  invading  a  place  so  guarded.  But  I 
had  not.  I  no  more  meant  to  enter  the  stables 
than  to  jump  off  the  housetop,  but  it  was  necessary 
that  I  should  start  for  them  and  make  the  start  from 
the  left  wing  of  the  house. 

How  I  managed  the  intractable  William  and  led 
him  as  I  did  from  bush  to  bush  and  shrub  to  shrub, 
up  and  down  the  length  of  that  interminable  fagade 
of  the  left  wing,  would  make  an  interesting  story  in 
itself.  The  curiosity  I  showed  in  plants,  even  such 
plants  as  had  survived  the  neglect  that  had  made  a 
wilderness  of  this  old-time  garden;  the  indifference 
which,  contrary  to  all  my  habits,  I  persisted  in  mani 
festing  to  every  inconvenience  I  encountered  in  the 
way  of  straightforward  walking  to  any  object  I  set 
my  fancy  upon  examining;  the  knowledge  I  ex 
hibited,  and  the  interest  which  I  took  it  for  granted 
he  felt  in  all  I  discovered  and  all  I  imparted  to  him, 
would  form  the  basis  of  a  farce  of  no  ordinary  merit 
had  it  not  had  its  birth  in  interests  and  intents 
bordering  on  the  tragic. 

A  row  of  bushes  of  various  species  ran  along  the 
wall  and  covered  in  some  instances  the  lower  ledges 
of  the  first  row  of  windows.  As  I  made  for  a  certain 


190  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

shrub  which  I  had  observed  growing  near  what  I 
supposed  to  be  the  casement  from  whose  blind  I  had 
chipped  a  small  sliver,  I  allowed  my  enthusiasm  to 
bubble  over,  in  my  evident  desire  to  display  my 
erudition. 

"  This,"  said  I,  "  is,  without  any  doubt  at  all,  a 
stunted  but  undoubted  specimen  of  that  rare  tree 
found  seldom  north  of  the  thirtieth  degree,  the 
Magnolia  grandi flora,  I  have  never  seen  it  but 
once  before,  and  that  was  in  the  botanical  gardens 
in  Washington.  Note  its  leaves.  You  have  noted 
its  flowers,  smaller  undoubtedly  than  they  should 
be — but  then  you  must  acknowledge  it  has  been  in 
a  measure  neglected — are  they  not  fine  ?  " 

Here  I  pulled  a  branch  down  which  interfered 
with  my  view  of  the  window.  There  was  no  chip 
visible  in  the  blinds  thus  discovered.  Seeing  this, 
I  let  the  branch  go.  '  But  the  oddest  feature  of 
this  tree  and  one  with  which  you  are  perhaps  not 
acquainted  "  (I  wonder  if  anybody  is  ?)  "  is  that  it 
will  not  grow  within  twenty  feet  of  any  plant  which 
scatters  pollen.  See  for  yourself.  This  next  shrub 
bears  no  flower  "  (I  was  moving  along  the  wall), 

nor  this."  I  drew  down  a  branch  as  I  spoke, 
caught  sight  of  the  mark  I  was  looking  for,  and  let 
the  bough  spring  back.  I  had  found  the  window  I 
wanted. 

His  grunts  and  groans  during  all  this  formed  a 
running  accompaniment  which  would  have  afforded 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  191 

me  great  secret  amusement  had  my  purpose  been 
less  serious.  As  it  was,  I  could  pay  but  little  atten 
tion  to  him,  especially  after  I  had  stepped  back  far 
enough  to  take  a  glance  at  the  window  over  the  one 
I  had  just  located  as  that  of  the  Flower  Parlor.  It 
was,  as  I  expected,  the  third  one  from  the  rear 
corner;  but  it  was  not  this  fact  which  gave  me  a 
thrill  of  feeling  so  strong  that  I  have  never  had 
harder  work  to  preserve  my  equanimity.  It  was  the 
knot  of  black  crape  with  which  the  shutters  were  tied 
together. 


XX 

QUESTIONS 

I  KEPT  the  promise  I  had  made  to  myself  and  did 
not  go  to  the  stables.  Had  I  intended  to  go 
there,  I  could  not  have  done  so  after  the  discovery 
I  have  just  mentioned.  It  awakened  too  many 
thoughts  and  contradictory  surmises.  If  this  knot 
was  a  signal,  for  whom  was  this  signal  meant  ?  If 
it  was  a  mere  acknowledgment  of  death,  how  recon 
cile  the  sentimentality  which  prompted  such  an  ac 
knowledgment  with  the  monstrous  and  diseased 
passions  lying  at  the  base  of  the  whole  dreadful  oc 
currence  ?  Lastly,  if  it  was  the  result  of  pure  care 
lessness,  a  bit  of  crape  having  been  caught  up  and 
used  for  a  purpose  for  which  any  ordinary  string 
would  have  answered,  what  a  wonderful  coincidence 
between  it  and  my  thoughts, — a  coincidence,  indeed, 
amounting  almost  to  miracle! 

Marvelling  at  the  whole  affair  and  deciding 
nothing,  I  allowed  myself  to  stroll  down  alone  to 
the  gate,  William  having  left  me  at  my  peremptory 
refusal  to  drag  my  skirts  any  longer  through  the 
briers.  The  day  being  bright  and  the  sunshine 

192 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  193 

warm,  the  road  looked  less  gloomy  than  usual,  es 
pecially  in  the  direction  of  the  village  and  Deacon 
Spear's  cottage.  The  fact  is,  that  anything  seemed 
better  than  the  grim  and  lowering  walls  of  the  house 
behind  me.  If  my  home  was  there,  so  was  my 
dread,  and  I  welcomed  the  sight  of  Mother  Jane's 
heavy  figure  bent  over  her  herbs  at  the  door  of  her 
hut,  a  few  paces  to  my  left,  where  the  road  turned. 

Had  she  not  been  deaf,  I  believed  I  would  have 
called  her.  As  it  was,  I  contented  myself  with 
watching  the  awkward  swayings  of  her  body  as  she 
pottered  to  and  fro  among  her  turnips  and  carrots. 
My  eyes  were  still  on  her  when  I  suddenly  heard  the 
clatter  of  a  horse's  hoofs  on  the  highway.  Look 
ing  up,  I  encountered  the  trim  figure  of  Mr.  Trohm, 
bending  to  me  from  a  fine  sorrel. 

"  Good  morning,  Miss  Butterworth.  It  *s  a  great 
relief  to  me  to  see  you  in  such  good  health  and 
spirits  this  morning,"  were  the  pleasant  words  with 
which  he  endeavored,  perhaps,  to  explain  his  pres 
ence  in  a  spot  more  or  less  under  a  ban. 

It  was  certainly  a  surprise.  What  right  had  I  to 
look  for  such  attentions  from  a  man  whose  ac 
quaintance  I  had  made  only  the  day  before  ?  It 
touched  me,  little  as  I  am  in  the  habit  of  allowing 
myself  to  be  ruled  by  trivial  sentimentalities,  and 
though  I  was  discreet  enough  to  avoid  any  further 
recognition  of  his  kindness  than  was  his  due  from  a 
lady  of  great  self-respect,  he  was  evidently  sum*- 


194  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ciently  gratified  by  my  response  to  draw  rein  and 
pause  for  a  moment's  conversation  under  the  pine 
trees.  This  for  the  moment  seemed  so  natural 
that  I  forgot  that  more  than  one  pair  of  eyes  might 
be  watching  me  from  the  windows  behind  us — eyes 
which  might  wonder  at  a  meeting  which  to  the  fool 
ish  understandings  of  the  young  might  have  the  look 
of  premeditation.  But,  pshaw!  I  am  talking  as  if 
I  were  twenty  instead  of—  Well,  I  will  leave  you 
to  consult  our  family  record  on  that  point.  There 
are  certain  secrets  which  even  the  wisest  among  us 
cannot  be  blamed  for  preserving. 

How  did  you  pass  the  night  ? "  was  Mr. 
Trohm's  first  question.  "  I  hope  in  all  due  peace 
and  quiet." 

'  Thank  you,"  I  returned,  not  seeing  why  I 
should  increase  his  anxiety  in  my  regard.  (<  I  have 
nothing  to  complain  of.  I  had  a  dream  ;  but 
dreams  are  to  be  expected  where  one  has  to  pass  a 
half-dozen  empty  rooms  to  one's  apartment." 

He  could  not  restrain  his  curiosity. 

"  A  dream !  "  he  repeated.  (<  I  do  not  believe  in 
sleep  that  is  broken  by  dreams,  unless  they  are  of 
the  most  cheerful  sort  possible.  And  I  judge  from 
what  you  say  that  yours  were  not  cheerful." 

I  wanted  to  confide  in  him.  I  felt  that  in  a  way 
he  had  a  right  to  know  what  had  happened  to  me, 
or  what  I  thought  had  happened  to  me,  under  this 
roof.  And  yet  I  did  not  speak.  What  I  could  tell 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  195 

would  sound  so  puerile  in  the  broad  sunshine  that 
enveloped  us.  I  merely  remarked  that  cheerfulness 
was  not  to  be  expected  in  a  domicile  so  given  over 
to  the  ravages  of  time,  and  then  with  that  lightness 
and  versatility  which  characterize  me  under  certain 
exigencies,  I  introduced  a  topic  we  could  discuss 
without  any  embarrassment  to  himself  or  me. 

Do  you  see  Mother  Jane  over  there  ? "  I  asked. 
"  I  had  some  talk  with  her  yesterday.  She  seems 
like  a  harmless  imbecile." 

'  Very  harmless,"  he  acquiesced;  "  her  only  fault 
is  greed ;  that  is  insatiable.  Yet  it  is  not  strong 
enough  to  take  her  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  this 
place.  Nothing  could  do  that,  I  think.  She  be 
lieves  that  her  daughter  Lizzie  is  still  alive  and  will 
come  back  to  the  hut  some  day.  It  's  very  sad 
when  you  think  that  the  girl  's  dead,  and  has  been 
dead  nearly  forty  years." 

1  Why  does  she  harp  on  numbers  ?"  I  asked. 
"  I  heard  her  mutter  certain  ones  over  and  over." 

'  That  is  a  mystery  none  of  us  have  ever  been 
able  to  solve,"  said  he.  '  Possibly  she  has  no 
reason  for  it.  The  vagaries  of  the  witless  are  often 
quite  unaccountable." 

He  remained  looking  at  me  long  after  he  had 
finished  speaking,  not,  I  felt  sure,  from  any  connec 
tion  he  found  between  what  he  had  just  said  and 
anything  to  be  observed  in  me,  but  from—  Well, 
I  was  glad  that  I  had  been  carefully  trained  in  my 


196  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

youth  to  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  my  morning 
toilets.  Any  woman  can  look  well  at  night  and 
many  women  in  the  flush  of  a  bright  afternoon,  but 
the  woman  who  looks  well  in  the  morning  needs  not 
always  to  be  young  to  attract  the  appreciative  gaze 
of  a  man  of  real  penetration.  Mr.  Trohm  was  such 
a  man,  and  I  did  not  begrudge  him  the  pleasure  he 
showed  in  my  neat  gray  silk  and  carefully  adjusted 
collar.  But  he  said  nothing,  and  a  short  silence 
ensued,  which  was  perhaps  more  of  a  compliment 
than  otherwise.  Then  he  uttered  a  short  sigh  and 
lifted  the  reins. 

14  If  only  I  were  not  debarred  from  entering,"  he 
smiled,  with  a  short  gesture  toward  the  house. 

I  did  not  answer.  Even  I  understand  that  on 
occasion  the  tongue  plays  but  a  sorry  part  in  inter 
views  of  this  nature. 

He  sighed  again  and  uttered  some  short  encourage 
ment  to  his  horse,  which  started  that  animal  up  and 
sent  him  slowly  pacing  down  the  road  toward  the 
cheerful  clearing  whither  my  own  eyes  were  looking 
with  what  I  was  determined  should  not  be  construed 
even  by  the  most  sanguine  into  a  glance  of  anything 
like  wistfulness.  As  he  went  he  made  a  bow  I  have 
never  seen  surpassed  in  my  own  parlor  in  Gramercy 
Park,  and  upon  my  bestowing  upon  him  a  return 
nod,  glanced  up  at  the  house  with  an  intentness 
which  seemed  to  increase  as  some  object,  invisible 
to  me  at  that  moment,  caught  his  eye.  As  that  eye 


THE  FLOWER   PARLOR  1 97 

was  directed  toward  the  left  wing,  and  lifted  as  far 
as  the  second  row  of  windows,  I  could  not  help 
asking  myself  if  he  had  seen  the  knot  of  crape  which 
had  produced  upon  me  so  lugubrious  an  impression. 
Before  I  could  make  sure  of  this  he  had  passed  from 
sight,  and  the  highway  fell  again  into  shadow- 
why,  I  hardly  knew,  for  the  sun  certainly  had  been 
shining  a  few  minutes  before. 


XXI 

MOTHER  JANE 

"  TXT"  ELL,  well,  what  did  Trohm  want  here  this 
V  V       morning  ?  "  cried  a  harsh  voice  from  amid 
the  tangled  walks  behind  me.      "  Seems  to  me  he 
finds  this  place  pretty  interesting  all  of  a  sudden." 

I  turned  upon  the  intruder  with  a  look  that  should 
have  daunted  him.  I  had  recognized  William's 
courteous  tones  and  was  in  no  mood  to  endure  a 
questioning  so  unbecoming  in  one  of  his  age  to  one 
of  mine.  But  as  I  met  his  eye,  which  had  some 
thing  in  it  besides  anger  and  suspicion — something 
that  was  quizzical  if  not  impertinent — I  changed  my 
intention  and  bestowed  upon  him  a  conciliatory 
smile,  which  I  hope  escaped  the  eye  of  the  good 
angel  who  records  against  man  all  his  small  hypocri 
sies  and  petty  deceits. 

'  Mr.     Trohm    rides    for   his    health,"     said    I. 

Seeing  me  looking  up  the  road  at  Mother  Jane, 
he  stopped  to  tell  me  some  of  the  idiosyncrasies  of 
that  old  woman.  A  very  harmless  courtesy,  Mr. 
Knollys." 

'  Very,"  he  echoed,  not  without  a  touch  of  sar- 
198 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  '  199 

casm.  ' '  I  only  hope  that  is  all, ' '  he  muttered,  with  a 
sidelong  look  back  at  the  house.  "  Lucetta  has  n't  a 
particle  of  belief  in  that  man's  friendship,  or,  rather, 
she  believes  he  never  goes  anywhere  without  a  par 
ticular  intention,  and  I  do  believe  she  's  right,  or 
why  should  he  come  spying  around  here  just  at  a 
time  when"— he  caught  himself  up  with  almost  a 
look  of  terror — "  when — when  you  are  here  ?  "  he 
completed  lamely. 

"  I  do  not  think,"  I  retorted,  more  angrily  than 
the  occasion  perhaps  warranted,  "  that  the  word 
spying  applies  to  Mr.  Trohm.  But  if  it  does,  what 
has  he  to  gain  from  a  pause  at  the  gate  and  a  word 
to  such  a  new  acquaintance  as  I  am  ?  " 

I  don't  know,"  William  persisted  suspiciously. 
'  Trohm  's  a  sharp  fellow.  If  there  was  anything 
to  see,  he  would  see  it  without  half  looking.  But 
there  is  n't.  You  don't  know  of  anything  wrong 
here,  do  you,  which  such  a  man  as  that,  hand  in 
glove  with  the  police  as  we  know  him  to  be,  might 
consider  himself  interested  in  ?  " 

Astonished  both  at  this  blundering  committal  of 
himself  and  at  the  certain  sort  of  anxious  confidence 
he  showed  in  me,  I  hesitated  for  a  moment,  but  only 
for  a  moment,  since,  if  half  my  suspicions  were  true, 
this  man  must  not  know  that  my  perspicacity  was 
more  to  be  feared  than  even  Mr.  Trohm's  was. 

If    Mr.   Trohm  shows  an  increased  interest  in 
this  household  during  the  last  two  days,"  said  I, 


200  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

with  a  heroic  defiance  of  ridicule  which  I  hope  Mr. 
Gryce  has  duly  appreciated,  "  I  beg  leave  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that  on  yesterday  morn 
ing  he  came  to  deliver  a  letter  addressed  to  me 
which  had  inadvertently  been  left  at  his  house,  and 
that  this  morning  he  called  to  inquire  how  /  had 
spent  the  night,  which,  in  consideration  of  the 
ghosts  which  are  said  to  haunt  this  house  and  the 
strange  and  uncanny  apparitions  which  only  three 
nights  ago  made  the  entrance  to  this  lane  hideous 
to  one  pair  of  eyes  at  least,  should  not  cause  a 
gentleman's  son  like  yourself  any  astonishment.  It 
does  not  seem  odd  to  me,  I  assure  you." 

He  laughed.  I  meant  he  should,  and,  losing 
almost  instantly  his  air  of  doubt  and  suspicion, 
turned  toward  the  gate  from  which  I  had  just  moved 
away,  muttering: 

"  Well,  it  's  a  small  matter  to  me  anyway.  It  's 
only  the  girls  that  are  afraid  of  Mr.  Trohm.  I  am 
not  afraid  of  anything  but  losing  Saracen,  who  has 
pined  like  the  deuce  at  his  long  confinement  in  the 
court.  Hear  him  now;  just  hear  him." 

And  I  could  hear  the  low  and  unhappy  moaning 
of  the  hound  distinctly.  It  was  not  a  pleasant  sound, 
and  I  was  almost  tempted  to  bid  William  unloose 
the  dog,  but  thought  better  of  it. 

"  By  the  way,"  said  he,  "  speaking  of  Mother 
Jane,  I  have  a  message  to  her  from  the  girls.  You 
will  excuse  me  if  I  speak  to  the  poor  woman." 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  2OI 

Alarmed  by  his  politeness  more  than  I  ever  have 
been  by  his  roughness  and  inconsiderate  sarcasms,  I 
surveyed  him  inquiringly  as  he  left  the  gate,  and  did 
not  know  whether  to  stand  my  ground  or  retreat  to 
the  house.  I  decided  to  stand  my  ground;  a  mes 
sage  to  this  woman  seeming  to  me  a  matter  of  some 
interest. 

I  was  glad  I  did,  for  after  some  five  minutes'  ab 
sence,  during  which  he  had  followed  her  into  the 
house,  I  saw  him  come  back  again  in  a  state  of 
sullen  displeasure,  which,  however,  partially  disap 
peared  when  he  saw  me  still  standing  by  the  gate. 

"  Ah,  Miss  Butterworth,  you  can  do  me  a  favor. 
The  old  creature  is  in  one  of  her  stubborn  fits  to 
day,  and  won't  give  me  a  hearing.  She  may  not  be 
so  deaf  to  you  ;  she  is  n't  apt  to  be  to  women.  Will 
you  cross  the  road  and  speak  to  her  ?  I  will  go 
with  you.  You  need  n't  be  afraid." 

The  way  he  said  this,  the  confidence  he  expected 
to  inspire,  had  almost  a  ghastly  effect  upon  me. 
Did  he  know  or  suspect  that  the  only  thing  I  feared 
in  this  lane  was  he  ?  Evidently  not,  for  he  met  my 
eye  quite  confidently. 

It  would  not  do  to  shake  his  faith  at  such  a  mo 
ment  as  this,  so  calling  upon  Providence  to  see  me 
safely  through  this  adventure,  I  stepped  into  the 
highway  and  went  with  him  into  Mother  Jane's 
cottage. 

Had   I   been   favored  with  any  other  companion 


202  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

than  himself,  I  should  have  been  glad  of  this  oppor 
tunity.  As  it  was,  I  found  myself  ignoring  any 
possible  danger  I  might  be  running,  in  my  interest 
in  the  remarkable  interior  to  which  I  was  thus 
introduced. 

Having  been  told  that  Mother  Jane  was  poor,  I 
had  expected  to  confront  squalor  and  possibly  filth, 
but  I  never  have  entered  a  cleaner  place  or  one  in 
which  order  made  the  poorest  belongings  look  more 
decent.  The  four  walls  were  unfinished,  and  so  were 
the  rafters  which  formed  the  ceiling,  but  the  floor, 
neatly  laid  in  brick,  was  spotless,  and  the  fireplace, 
also  of  brick,  was  as  deftly  swept  as  one  could  ex 
pect  from  the  little  scrub  I  saw  hanging  by  its  side. 
Crouched  within  this  fireplace  sat  the  old  woman 
we  had  come  to  interview.  Her  back  was  to  us, 
and  she  looked  helplessly  and  hopelessly  deaf. 

"  Ask  her,"  said  William,  pointing  towards  her 
with  a  rude  gesture,  "  if  she  will  come  to  the  house 
at  sunset.  My  sisters  have  some  work  for  her  to  do. 
They  will  pay  her  well." 

Advancing  at  his  bidding,  I  passed  a  rocking- 
chair,  in  the  cushion  of  which  a  dozen  patches  met 
my  eye.  This  drew  my  eyes  toward  a  bed,  over 
which  a  counterpane  was  drawn,  made  up  of  a  thou 
sand  or  more  pieces  of  colored  calico,  and  noticing 
their  varied  shapes  and  the  intricacy  with  which 
they  were  put  together,  I  wondered  whether  she  ever 
counted  them.  The  next  moment  I  was  at  her  back. 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  203 

"  Seventy,"  burst  from  her  lips  as  I  leaned  over 
her  shoulder  and  showed  her  the  coin  which  I  had 
taken  pains  to  have  in  my  hand. 

"  Yours,"  I  announced,  pointing  in  the  direction 
of  the  house,  "  if  you  will  do  some  work  for  Miss 
Knollys  to-night." 

Slowly  she  shook  her  head  before  burying  it  deepet 
in  the  shawl  she  wore  wrapped  about  her  shoulders. 
Listening  a  minute,  I  thought  I  heard  her  mutter: 
"  Twenty-eight,  ten,  but  no  more.  I  can  count  no 
more.  Go  away!" 

But  I  'm  nothing  if  not  persistent.  Feeling  for 
her  hands,  which  were  hidden  away  somewhere 
under  her  shawl,  I  touched  them  with  the  coin  and 
cried  again  : 

'  This  and  more  for  a  small  piece  of  work  to 
night.  Come,  you  are  strong;  earn  it." 

"  What  kind  of  work  is  it  ?  "  I  asked  innocently, 
or  it  must  have  appeared  innocently,  of  Mr.  Knollys, 
who  was  standing  at  my  back. 

He  frowned,  all  the  black  devils  in  his  heart 
coming  into  his  look  at  once. 

'  How  do  I  know!  Ask  Loreen;  she  's  the  one 
who  sent  me.  I  don't  take  account  of  what  goes 
on  in  the  kitchen." 

I  begged  his  pardon,  somewhat  sarcastically  I 
own,  and  made  another  attempt  to  attract  the  atten 
tion  of  the  old  crone,  who  had  remained  perfectly 
callous  to  my  allurements. 


2O4  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  I  thought  you  liked  money,"  I  said.  "  For 
Lizzie,  you  know,  for  Lizzie." 

But  she  only  muttered  in  lower  and  lower  gut 
turals,  "  I  can  count  no  more";  and,  disgusted  at 
my  failure,  being  one  who  accounts  failure  as  little 
short  of  disgrace,  I  drew  back  and  made  my  way 
toward  the  door,  saying:  "  She  's  in  a  different 
mood  from  what  she  was  yesterday  when  she 
snatched  a  quarter  from  me  at  the  first  intimation 
it  was  hers.  I  don't  think  you  can  get  her  to  do 
any  work  to-night.  Innocents  take  these  freaks. 
Is  n't  there  some  one  else  you  can  call  in  ?  " 

The  scowl  that  disfigured  his  none  too  handsome 
features  was  a  fitting  prelude  to  his  words. 

'  You  talk,"  said  he,  "as  if  we  had  the  whole 
village  at  our  command.  How  did  you  succeed 
with  the  locksmith  yesterday  ?  Came,  did  n't  he  ? 
Well,  that  's  what  we  have  to  expect  whenever  we 
want  any  help." 

Whirling  on  his  heel,  he  led  the  way  out  of  the 
hut,  whither  I  would  have  immediately  followed 
him  if  I  had  not  stopped  to  take  another  look  at  the 
room,  which  struck  me,  even  upon  a  second  scrutiny, 
as  one  of  the  best  ordered  and  best  kept  I  had  ever 
entered.  Even  the  strings  and  strings  of  dried  fruits 
and  vegetables,  which  hung  in  festoons  from  every 
beam  of  the  roof,  were  free  from  dust  and  cobwebs, 
and  though  the  dishes  were  few  and  the  pans  scarce, 
they  were  bright  and  speckless,  giving  to  the  shelf 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  20$ 

along  which  they  were  ranged  a  semblance  of  orna 
ment. 

"  Wise  enough  to  keep  her  house  in  order," 
thought  I,  and  actually  found  it  hard  to  leave,  so 
attractive  to  my  eyes  are  absolute  neatness  and 
order. 

William  was  pushing  at  his  own  gate  when  I 
joined  him.  He  looked  as  if  he  wished  I  had  spent 
the  morning  with  Mother  Jane,  and  was  barely  civil 
in  our  walk  up  to  the  house.  I  was  not,  therefore, 
surprised  when  he  burst  into  a  volley  of  oaths  at  the 
doorway  and  turned  upon  me  almost  as  if  he  would 
forbid  me  the  house,  for  tap,  tap,  tap,  from  some 
distant  quarter  came  a  distinct  sound  like  that  of 
nails  being  driven  into  a  plank. 


XXII 

THE   THIRD   NIGHT 

MOTHER  JANE  must  have  changed  her  mind 
after  we  left  her.  For  late  in  the  evening  I 
caught  a  glimpse  of  her  burly  figure  in  the  kitchen 
as  I  went  to  give  Hannah  some  instructions  concern 
ing  certain  little  changes  in  the  housekeeping  ar 
rangements  which  the  girls  and  I  had  agreed  were 
necessary  to  our  mutual  comfort. 

I  wished  to  address  the  old  crone,  but  warned,  by 
the  ill-concealed  defiance  with  which  Hannah  met 
my  advances,  that  any  such  attempt  on  my  part 
would  be  met  by  anything  but  her  accustomed  good 
nature,  I  refrained  from  showing  my  interest  in  her 
strange  visitor,  or  from  even  appearing  conscious  of 
her  own  secret  anxieties  and  evident  preoccupation. 

Loreen  and  Lucetta  exchanged  a  meaning  look  as 
I  rejoined  them  in  the  sitting-room  ;  but  my  volubil 
ity  in  regard  to  the  domestic  affair  which  had  just 
taken  me  to  the  kitchen  seemed  to  speedily  reassure 
them,  and  when  a  few  minutes  later  I  said  good 
night  and  prepared  to  leave  the  room,  it  was  with 
the  conviction  that  I  had  relieved  their  mind  at  the 

206 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  2O/ 

expense  of  my  own.  Mother  Jane  in  the  kitchen  at 
this  late  hour  meant  business.  What  that  business 
was,  I  seemed  to  know  only  too  well. 

I  had  formed  a  plan  for  the  night  which  required 
some  courage.  Recalling  Lucetta's  expression  of 
the  morning,  that  I  might  expect  a  repetition  of  the 
former  night's  experiences,  I  prepared  to  profit  by 
the  warning  in  a  way  she  little  meant.  Satisfied 
that  if  there  was  any  truth  in  the  suspicions  I  had 
formed,  there  would  be  an  act  performed  in  this 
house  to-night  which,  if  seen  by  me,  would  forever 
settle  the  question  agitating  the  whole  countryside, 
I  made  up  my  mind  that  no  locked  door  should  in 
terfere  with  my  opportunity  of  doing  so.  How  I 
effected  this  result  I  will  presently  relate. 

Lucetta  had  accompanied  me  to  my  door  with  a 
lighted  candle. 

I  hear  you  had  some  trouble  with  matches  last 
night,"  said  she.  '  You  will  find  them  all  right 
now.  Hannah  must  be  blamed  for  some  of  this 
carelessness."  Then  as  I  began  some  reassuring 
reply,  she  turned  upon  me  with  a  look  that  was 
almost  fond,  and,  throwing  out  her  arms,  cried  en- 
treatingly:  "  Won't  you  give  me  a  little  kiss,  Miss 
Butterworth  ?  We  have  not  given  you  the  best  of 
welcomes,  but  you  are  my  mother's  old  friend,  and 
sometimes  I  feel  a  little  lonely." 

I  could  easily  believe  that,  and  yet  I  found  it  hard 
to  embrace  her.  Too  many  shadows  swam  between 


208  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Althea's  children  and  myself.  She  saw  my  hesi 
tancy  (a  hesitancy  I  could  not  but  have  shown  even 
at  the  risk  of  losing  her  confidence),  and,  paling 
slightly,  dropped  her  hands  with  a  pitiful  smile. 

'  You  don't  like  me,"  she  said.  "  I  do  not 
wonder,  but  I  was  in  hopes  you  would  for  my 
mother's  sake.  I  have  no  claims  myself." 

You  are  an  interesting  girl,  and  you  have,  what 
your,  mother  had  not,  a  serious  side  to  your  nature 
that  is  anything  but  displeasing  to  me.  But  my 
kisses,  Lucetta,  are  as  rare  as  my  tears.  I  had 
rather  give  you  good  advice,  and  that  is  a  fact. 
Perhaps  it  is  as  strong  a  proof  of  affection  as  any 
ordinary  caress  would  be." 

'  Perhaps,"  she  assented,  but  she  did  not  en 
courage  me  to  give  it  to  her  notwithstanding.  In 
stead  of  that,  she  drew  back  and  bade  me  a  gentle 
good-night,  which  for  some  reason  made  me  sadder 
than  I  wished  to  be  at  a  crisis  demanding  so  much 
nerve.  Then  she  walked  quickly  away,  and  I  was 
left  to  face  the  night  alone. 

Knowing  that  I  should  be  rather  weakened  than 
helped  by  the  omission  of  any  of  the  little  acts  of 
preparation  with  which  I  am  accustomed  to  calm 
my  spirits  for  the  night,  I  went  through  them  all, 
with  just  as  much  precision  as  if  I  had  expected  to 
spend  the  ensuing  hours  in  rest.  When  all  was 
done  and  only  my  cup  of  tea  remained  to  be  quaffed, 
I  had  a  little  struggle  with  myself,  which  ended  in 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  2OO, 

my  not  drinking  it  at  all.  Nothing,  not  even  this 
comfortable  solace  for  an  unsatisfactory  day,  should 
stand  in  the  way  of  my  being  the  complete  mistress 
of  my  wits  this  night.  Had  I  known  that  this  tea 
contained  a  soporific  in  the  shape  of  a  little  harmless 
morphine,  I  would  have  found  this  act  of  self-denial 
much  easier. 

It  was  now  eleven.  Confident  that  nothing  would 
be  done  while  my  light  was  burning,  I  blew  it  out, 
and,  taking  a  candle  and  some  matches  in  my  hand, 
softly  opened  my  door  and,  after  a  moment  of  in 
tense  listening,  stepped  out  and  closed  it  carefully 
behind  me.  Nothing  could  be  stiller  than  the  house 
or  darker  than  the  corridor. 

"Am  I  watched  or  am  I  not  watched?"  I 
queried,  and  for  an  instant  stood  undecided.  Then, 
seeing  nothing  and  hearing  nothing,  I  slipped  down 
the  hall  to  the  door  beyond  mine  and,  opening  it 
with  all  the  care  possible,  stepped  inside. 

I  knew  the  room.  I  had  taken  especial  note  of  it 
in  my  visit  of  the  morning.  I  knew  that  it  was 
nearly  empty  and  that  there  was  a  key  in  the  lock 
which  I  could  turn.  I  therefore  felt  more  or  less 
safe  in  it,  especially  as  its  window  was  undarkened 
by  the  branches  that  hung  so  thickly  across  my  own 
casement,  shutting  me  in,  or  seeming  to  shut  me  in, 
from  all  communication  with  the  outside  world  and 
the  unknown  guardian  which  I  had  been  assured 
constantly  attended  my  summons. 


2IO  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

That  I  might  strengthen  my  spirits  by  one  glimpse 
of  this  same  outside  world,  before  settling  down  for 
the  watch  I  had  set  for  myself,  I  stepped  softly  to 
the  window  and  took  one  lingering  look  without. 
A  belt  of  forest  illumined  by  a  gibbous  moon  met 
my  eyes;  nothing  else.  Yet  this  sight  was  wel 
come,  and  it  was  only  after  I  had  been  struck  by 
lie  possibility  of  my  own  figure  being  seen  at  the 
casement  by  some  possible  watcher  in  the  shadows 
below,  that  I  found  the  hardihood  necessary  to  with 
draw  into  the  darker  precincts  of  the  room,  and 
begin  that  lonely  watch  which  my  doubts  and  ex 
pectations  rendered  necessary. 

This  was  the  third  I  had  been  forced  to  keep,  and 
it  was  by  far  the  most  dismal ;  for  though  the  bolted 
door  between  me  and  the  hall  promised  me  personal 
safety,  there  presently  rose  in  some  far-off  place  a 
smothered  repetition  of  that  same  tap,  tap,  tap  which 
had  sent  the  shudders  over  me  upon  my  sudden 
entrance  into  the  house  early  in  the  morning. 
Heard  now,  it  caused  me  to  tremble  in  a  way  I  had 
not  supposed  possible  to  one  of  my  hardy  nature, 
and  while  with  this  recognition  of  my  feminine 
susceptibility  to  impressions  there  came  a  certain 
pride  in  the  stanchness  of  purpose  which  led  me  to 
restrain  all  acknowledgment  of  fear,  by  any  recourse 
to  my  whistle,  I  was  more  than  glad  when  even  this 
sound  ceased,  and  I  had  only  to  expect  the  swishing 
noise  of  a  skirt  down  the  hall,  and  that  stealthy 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  211 

locking  of  the  door  of  the  room  I  had  taken  the  pre 
caution  of  leaving. 

It  came  sooner  than  I  expected,  came  just  in  the 
way  it  had  previously  done,  only  that  the  person 
paused  a  moment  to  listen  before  hastening  back. 
The  silence  within  must  have  satisfied  her,  for  I 
heard  a  low  sigh  like  that  of  relief,  before  the  steps 
took  themselves  back.  That  they  would  turn  my 
way  gave  me  a  momentary  concern,  but  I  had  too 
completely  lulled  my  young  hostesses'  suspicions, 
or  (let  me  be  faithful  to  all  the  possibilities  of  the 
case)  they  had  put  too  much  confidence  in  the  pow 
der  with  which  they  had  seasoned  my  nightly  cup 
of  tea,  for  them  to  doubt  that  I  was  soundly  asleep 
in  my  own  quarters. 

Three  minutes  later  I  followed  those  steps  as  far 
down  the  corridor  as  I  dared  to  go.  For,  since  my 
last  appearance  in  it,  a  candle  had  been  lit  in  the 
main  hall,  and  faint  as  was  its  glimmer,  it  was  still  a 
glimmer  into  the  circle  of  which  I  felt  it  would  be 
foolhardiness  for  me  to  step.  At  some  twenty 
paces,  then,  from  the  opening,  I  paused  and  gave 
myself  up  to  listening.  Alas,  there  was  plenty  now 
for  me  to  hear. 

You  have  heard  the  sound ;  we  all  have  heard  the 
sound,  but  few  of  us  in  such  a  desolate  structure  and 
at  the  hour  and  under  the  influences  of  midnight ! 
The  measured  tread  of  men  struggling  under  a 
heavy  weight,  and  that  weight — how  well  I  knew  it ! 


212  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

as  well  as  if  I  had  seen  it,  as  I  really  did  in  my 
imagination. 

They  advanced  from  the  adjoining  corridor,  from 
the  room  I  had  as  yet  found  no  opportunity  of  en 
tering,  and  they  approached  surely  and  slowly  the 
main  hall  near  which  I  was  standing  in  such  a  posi 
tion  as  rendered  it  impossible  for  me  to  see  anything 
if  they  took  the  direct  course  to  the  head  of  the 
stairs  and  so  down,  as  there  was  every  reason  to 
expect  they  would.  I  did  not  dare  to  draw  nearer, 
however,  so  concentrated  my  faculties  anew  upon 
listening,  when  suddenly  I  perceived  on  the  great 
white  wall  in  front  of  me — the  wall  of  the  main 
hall,  I  mean,  toward  which  the  opening  looked — 
the  shapeless  outline  of  a  drooping  head,  and 
realized  that  the  candle  had  been  placed  in  such  a 
position  that  the  wall  must  receive  the  full  shadow 
of  the  passing  cortege. 

And  thus  it  was  I  saw  it,  huge,  distorted,  and 
suggestive  beyond  any  picture  I  ever  beheld, — the 
passing  of  a  body  to  its  long  home,  carried  by  six 
anxious  figures,  four  of  which  seemed  to  be  those 
of  women. 

But  that  long  home!  Where  was  it  located — in 
the  house  or  in  the  grounds  ?  It  was  a  question  so 
important  that  for  a  moment  I  could  think  of 
nothing  but  how  I  could  follow  the  small  procession, 
without  running  the  risk  of  discovery.  It  had 
reached  the  head  of  the  stairs  by  this  time,  and  I 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  21$ 

heard  Miss  Knollys'  low,  firm  voice  enjoining 
silence.  Then  the  six  bearers  began  to  descend 
with  their  burden. 

Ere  they  reached  the  foot,  a  doubt  struck  me. 
Would  it  be  better  to  follow  them  or  to  take  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  every  member  of  the  house 
hold  being  engaged  in  this  task,  to  take  a  peep  into 
the  room  where  the  death  had  occurred  ?  I  had  not 
decided,  when  I  heard  them  take  the  forward  course 
from  the  foot  of  the  stairs  to  what,  to  my  straining 
ear,  seemed  to  be  the  entrance  to  the  dining-room 
corridor.  But  as  in  my  anxiety  to  determine  this 
fact  I  slipped  far  enough  forward  to  make  sure  that 
their  destination  lay  somewhere  within  reach  of  the 
Flower  Parlor,  I  was  so  struck  by  the  advantages  to 
be  gained  by  a  cautious  use  of  the  trap-door  in  Wil 
liam's  room,  that  I  hesitated  no  longer,  but  sped 
with  what  swiftness  I  could  toward  the  spot  from 
which  I  had  so  lately  heard  this  strange  procession 
advance. 

A  narrow  band  of  light  lying  across  the  upper  end 
of  the  long  corridor,  proved  that  the  door  was  not 
only  ajar,  but  that  a  second  candle  was  burning  in 
the  room  I  was  about  to  invade  ;  but  this  was 
scarcely  to  be  regretted,  since  there  could  be  no 
question  of  the  emptiness  of  the  room.  The  six 
figures  I  had  seen  go  by  embraced  every  one  who 
by  any  possibility  could  be  considered  as  having 
part  in  this  transaction — William,  Mr.  Simsbury, 


214  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Miss  Knollys,  Lucetta,  Hannah,  and  Mother  Jane. 
No  one  else  was  left  to  guard  this  room,  so  I  pushed 
the  door  open  quite  boldly  and  entered. 

What  I  saw  there  I  will  relate  later,  or,  rather,  I 
will  but  hint  at  now.  A  bed  with  a  sheet  thrown 
back,  a  stand  covered  with  vials,  a  bureau  with  a 
man's  shaving  paraphernalia  upon  it,  and  on  the 
wall  such  pictures  as  only  sporting  gentlemen  de 
light  in.  The  candle  was  guttering  on  a  small  table 
upon  which,  to  my  astonishment,  a  Bible  lay  open. 
Not  having  my  glasses  with  me,  I  could  not  see 
what  portion  of  the  sacred  word  was  thus  disclosed, 
but  I  took  the  precaution  to  indent  the  upper  leaf 
with  my  thumb-nail,  so  that  I  might  find  it  again  in 
case  of  future  opportunity.  My  attention  was  at 
tracted  by  other  small  matters  that  would  be  food 
for  thought  at  a  more  propitious  moment,  but  at 
that  instant  the  sound  of  voices  coming  distinctly 
to  my  ear  from  below,  warned  me  that  a  halt  had 
been  made  at  the  Flower  Parlor,  and  that  the  duty 
of  the  moment  was  to  locate  the  trap-door  and  if 
possible  determine  the  means  of  raising  it. 

This  was  less  difficult  than  I  anticipated.  Either 
this  room  was  regarded  as  so  safe  from  intrusion 
that  a  secret  like  this  could  be  safely  left  unguarded, 
or  the  door  which  was  plainly  to  be  seen  in  one 
corner  had  been  so  lately  lifted,  that  it  had  hardly 
sunk  back  into  its  place.  I  found  it,  if  the  expres 
sion  may  be  used  of  a  horizontal  object,  slightly 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  21$ 

ajar  and  needing  but  the  slightest  pull  to  make  it 
spring  upright. 

The  hole  thus  disclosed  was  filled  with  the  little 
staircase  up  which  I  had  partly  mounted  in  my 
daring  explorations  of  the  day  before.  It  was  dark 
now,  darker  than  it  was  then,  but  I  felt  that  I  must 
descend  by  it,  for  plainly  to  be  heard  now  through 
the  crack  in  the  closet  door,  which  seemed  to  have 
a  knack  of  standing  partly  open,  I  could  hear  the 
heavy  tread  of  the  six  bearers  as  they  entered  the 
parlor  below,  still  carrying  their  burden,  concerning 
the  destination  of  which  I  was  so  anxious  to  be  in 
formed. 

That  it  could  be  in  the  room  itself  was  too  im 
probable  for  consideration.  Yet  if  they  took  up 
their  stand  in  this  room  it  was  for  a  purpose,  and 
what  that  purpose  was  I  was  determined  to  know. 
The  noise  their  feet  made  on  the  bare  boards  of  the 
floor  and  the  few  words  I  now  heard  uttered  in  Wil 
liam's  stolid  tones  and  Lucetta's  musical  treble 
assured  me  that  my  own  light  steps  would  no  more 
be  heard,  than  my  dark  gown  of  quiet  wool  would 
be  seen  through  the  narrow  slit  through  which  I 
was  preparing  to  peer.  Yet  it  took  no  small  degree 
of  what  my  father  used  to  call  pluck,  for  me  to  put 
foot  on  this  winding  staircase  and  descend  almost, 
as  it  were,  into  the  midst  of  what  I  must  regard  as 
the  last  wicked  act  of  a  most  cowardly  and  brutal 
murder. 


2l6  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  did  it,  however,  and  after  a  short  but  grim  com 
munion  with  my  own  heart,  which  would  persist  in 
beating  somewhat  noisily,  I  leaned  forward  with  all 
the  precaution  possible  and  let  my  gaze  traverse  the 
chamber  in  which  I  had  previously  seen  such  hor 
rors  as  should  have  prepared  me  for  this  last  and 
greatest  one. 

In  a  moment  I  understood  the  whole.  A  long 
square  hole  in  the  floor,  lately  sawed,  provided  an 
opening  through  which  the  plain  plank  coffin,  of 
which  I  now  caught  sight,  was  to  be  lowered  into 
the  cellar  and  so  into  the  grave  which  had  doubtless 
been  dug  there.  The  ropes  in  the  hands  of  the  six 
persons,  in  whose  identity  I  had  made  no  mistake, 
was  proof  enough  of  their  intention;  and,  satisfied 
as  I  now  was  of  the  means  and  mode  of  the  interment 
which  had  been  such  a  boundless  mystery  to  me,  I 
shrank  a  step  upward,  fearing  lest  my  indignation 
and  the  horror  I  could  not  but  feel,  from  this  mo 
ment  on,  of  Althea's  children,  would  betray  me 
into  some  exclamation  which  might  lead  to  my  dis 
covery  and  a  similar  fate. 

One  other  short  glance,  in  which  I  saw  them  all 
ranged  around  the  dark  opening,  and  I  was  up  out 
of  their  reach,  Lucetta's  face  and  Lucetta's  one  sob 
as  the  ropes  began  to  creak,  being  the  one  memory 
which  followed  me  the  most  persistently.  She,  at 
least,  was  overwhelmed  with  remorse  for  a  deed  she 
was  perhaps  only  answerable  for  in  that  she  failed 


THE  FLOWER  PARLOR  21? 

to  make  known  to  the  world  her  brother's  madness 
and  the  horrible  crimes  to  which  it  gave  rise. 

I  took  one  other  look  around  his  room  before  I 
fled  to  my  own,  or  rather,  to  the  one  in  which  I  had 
taken  refuge  while  my  own  was  under  lock  and  key. 
That  I  spent  the  next  two  hours  on  my  knees  no 
one  can  wonder.  When  my  own  room  was  unlocked, 
as  it  was  before  the  day  broke,  I  hastened  to  enter 
it  and  lay  my  head  with  all  its  unhappy  knowledge 
on  my  pillow.  But  I  did  not  sleep;  and,  what  was 
stranger  still,  never  once  thought  of  sounding  a 
single  note  on  the  whistle  which  would  have  brought 
the  police  into  this  abode  of  crime.  Perhaps  it  was  a 
wise  omission.  I  had  seen  enough  that  was  horrible 
that  night  without  beholding  Althea's  children  ar 
rested  before  my  eyes. 


BOOK  III 
FORWARD  AND  BACK 

XXIII 

ROOM    3,    HOTEL  CARTER 

{ROSE  at  my  usual  hour.  I  dressed  myself  with 
my  usual  care.  I  was,  to  a  superficial  observer 
at  least,  in  all  respects  my  usual  self  when  Hannah 
came  to  my  door  to  ask  what  she  could  do  for  me. 
As  there  was  nothing  I  wanted  but  to  get  out  of 
this  house,  which  had  become  unbearable  to  me,  I 
replied  with  the  utmost  cheerfulness  that  my  wants 
were  all  supplied  and  that  I  would  soon  be  down,  at 
which  she  answered  that  in  that  case  she  must  be 
stir  herself  or  the  breakfast  would  not  be  ready,  and 
hurried  away. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  dining-room  when  I  en 
tered,  and  judging  from  appearances  that  several 
minutes  must  elapse  before  breakfast  would  be 
ready,  I  took  occasion  to  stroll  through  the  grounds 

218 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  2 19 

and  glance  up  at  the  window  of  William's  room. 
The  knot  of  crape  was  gone. 

I  would  have  gone  farther,  but  just  then  I  heard 
a  great  rushing  and  scampering,  and,  looking  up, 
saw  an  enormous  dog  approaching  at  full  gallop 
from  the  stables.  Saracen  was  loose. 

I  did  not  scream  or  give  way  to  other  feminine 
expressions  of  fear,  but  I  did  return  as  quickly  as 
possible  to  the  house,  where  I  now  saw  I  must  re 
main  till  William  chose  to  take  me  into  town. 

This  I  was  determined  should  take  place  as  soon 
after  breakfast  as  practicable.  The  knowledge 
which  I  now  possessed  warranted,  nay,  demanded, 
instant  consultation  with  the  police,  and  as  this 
could  best  be  effected  by  following  out  the  orders  I 
had  received  from  Mr.  Gryce,  I  did  not  consider  any 
other  plan  than  that  of  meeting  the  man  on  duty  in 
Room  No.  3  at  the  hotel. 

Loreen,  Lucetta,  and  William  were  awaiting  me 
in  the  hall,  and  made  no  apology  for  the  flurry  into 
which  I  had  been  thrown  by  my  rapid  escape  from 
Saracen.  Indeed  I  doubt  if  they  noticed  it,  for 
with  all  the  attempt  they  made  to  seem  gay  and  at 
ease,  the  anxieties  and  fatigue  of  the  foregoing 
nights  were  telling  upon  them,  and  from  Miss 
Knollys  down,  they  looked  physically  exhausted. 
But  they  also  looked  mentally  relieved.  In  the 
clear  depths  of  Lucetta's  eye  there  was  now  no 
wavering,  and  the  head  which  was  always  turning 


22O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

in  anxious  anticipation  over  her  shoulder  rested  firm, 
though  not  as  erect  as  her  sister's,  who  had  less  cause 
perhaps  for  regret  and  sorrow. 

William  was  joyful  to  a  degree,  but  it  was  a  forced 
joviality  which  only  became  real  when  he  heard  a 
sudden,  quick  bark  under  the  window  and  the  sound 
of  scraping  paws  against  the  mastic  coating  of  the 
wall  outside.  Then  he  broke  out  into  a  loud  laugh 
of  unrestrained  pleasure,  crying  out  thoughtlessly : 

"  There  's  Saracen.     How  quick  he  knows " 

A  warning  look  from  Lucetta  stopped  him. 

"  I  mean,"  he  stammered,  "  it  's  a  dull  dog  that 
cannot  find  his  master.  Miss  Butterworth,  you  will 
have  to  overcome  your  fear  of  dogs  if  you  stay  with 
us  long.  Saracen  is  unbound  this  morning,  and  " 
— he  used  a  great  oath — "  he  's  going  to  remain 
so." 

By  which  I  cdme  to  understand  that  it  was  not 
out  of  considerafibli  for  me  he  had  been  tied  up  in 
the  court  till  w  v,  but  for  reasons  connected  with 
their  own  safety  and  the  preservation  of  the  secret 
which  they  so  evidently  believed  had  been  buried 
with  the  body,  which  I  did  not  like  to  remember 
lay  at  that  very  minute  too  nearly  under  our  feet 
for  my  own  individual  comfort. 

However,  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  reply  I 
made  to  William. 

"  I  hope  he  does  not  run  with  the  buggy,"  I  ob 
jected.  "  I  want  to  take  a  ride  very  much  this 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  221 

morning  and  could  get  small  pleasure  out  of  it  if 
that  dog  must  be  our  companion." 

"  I  cannot  go  out  this  morning,"  William  began, 
but  changed  his  sentence,  possibly  at  the  touch  of 
his  sister's  foot  under  the  table,  into:  "  But  if  you 
say  I  must,  why,  I  must.  You  women  folks  are  so 
plagued  unreasonable." 

Had  he  been  ten  years  younger  I  would  have 
boxed  his  ears;  had  he  been  that  much  older  I 
would  have  taken  cue  and  packed  my  trunk  be 
fore  he  could  have  finished  the  cup  of  coffee  he  was 
drinking.  But  he  was  just  too  old  to  reprimand  in 
the  way  just  mentioned,  and  not  old  enough  to  ap 
preciate  any  display  of  personal  dignity  or  self- 
respect  on  the  part  of  the  person  he  had  offended. 
Besides,  he  was  a  knave;  so  I  just  let  his  imperti 
nence  pass  with  the  remark : 

"  I  have  purchases  to  make  in  the  village  " :  and 
so  that  matter  ended,  manifestl}  the  two  girls' 
relief,  who  naturally  did  not  like  to  /^g  me  insulted, 
even  if  they  did  not  possess  sufficient  power  over 
their  brother  to  prevent  it. 

One  other  small  episode  and  then  I  will  take  you 
with  me  to  the  village.  As  we  were  leaving  the 
table,  where  I  ate  less  than  common, ^notwithstand 
ing  all  my  efforts  to  seem  perfectly  -unconcerned, 
Lucetta,  who  had  waited  for  her  brother  to  go  out, 
took  me  gently  by  the  arm,  and,  eying  me  closely, 
said: 


222  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  Did  you  have  any  dreams  last  night,  Miss  But- 
terworth  ?  You  know  I  promised  you  some." 

The  question  disconcerted  me,  and  for  a  moment  I 
felt  like  taking  the  two  girls  into  my  confidence  and 
bidding  them  fly  from  the  shame  and  doom  so  soon 
to  fall  upon  their  brother;  but  the  real  principle 
underlying  all  such  momentary  impulses  on  my  part 
deterred  me,  and  in  as  light  a  tone  as  I  could  com 
mand  and  not  be  an  absolute  hypocrite,  I  replied 
that  I  was  sorry  to  disappoint  her,  but  I  had  had 
no  dreams,  which  seemed  to  please  her  more  than  it 
should,  for  if  I  had  had  no  dreams  I  certainly  had 
suffered  from  the  most  frightful  realities. 

I  will  not  describe  our  ride  into  town.  Saracen 
did  go  with  us,  and  indignation  not  only  rendered 
me  speechless,  but  gave  to  my  thoughts  a  turn 
which  made  that  half-hour  of  very  little  value  to 
me.  Mother  Jane's  burly  figure  crouching  in  her 
doorway  might  otherwise  have  given  me  opportu 
nity  for  remark,  and  so  might  the  dubious  looks  of 
people  we  met  on  the  highroad — looks  to  which  I 
am  so  wholly  unaccustomed  that  I  had  difficulty  in 
recognizing  myself  as  the  butt  of  so  much  doubt 
and  possibly  dislike.  I  attributed  this,  however,  all 
to  the  ill  repute  under  which  William  so  deservedly 
labored,  and  did  not  allow  myself  to  more  than 
notice  it.  Indeed,  I  could  only  be  sorry  for  people 
who  did  not  know  in  what  consideration  I  was  held 
at  home,  and  who,  either  through  ignorance  or  preju- 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  22$ 

dice,  allowed  themselves  privileges  they  would  be 
the  first  to  regret  did  they  know  the  heart  and  mind 
of  Amelia  Butterworth. 

Once  in  the  village,  I  took  the  direction  of  affairs, 

"  Set  me  down  at  the  hotel,"  I  commanded} 
"  and  then  go  about  such  business  as  you  may  have 
here  in  town.  I  am  not  going  to  allow  myself  to  be 
tracked  all  over  by  that  dog." 

"  I  have  no  business,"  was  the  surly  reply. 

"  Then  make  some,"  was  my  sharp  retort.  "  I 
want  to  see  the  locksmith — that  locksmith  who 
would  n't  come  to  do  an  honest  piece  of  work  for 
me  in  your  house;  and  I  want  to  buy  dimities  and 
wools  and  sewing  silks  at  the  dry-goods  store  over 
there.  Indeed  I  have  a  thousand  things  to  do,  and 
expect  to  spend  half  the  morning  before  the  count 
ers.  Why,  man,  I  have  n't  done  any  shopping  for 
a  week." 

He  gaped  at  me  perfectly  aghast  (as  I  meant  he 
should),  and,  having  but  little  experience  of  city 
ladies,  took  me  at  my  word  and  prepared  to  beat  an 
honorable  retreat.  As  a  result,  I  found  myself  ten 
minutes  later  standing  on  the  top  step  of  the  hotel 
porch,  watching  William  driving  away  with  Saracen 
perched  on  the  seat  beside  him.  Then  I  realized 
that  the  village  held  no  companions  for  him,  and 
did  not  know  whether  I  felt  glad  or  sorry. 

To  the  clerk  who  came  to  meet  me,  I  said  quietly, 
"  Room  No.  3,  if  you  please,"  at  which  he  gave  a 


224  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

nod  of  intelligence  and  led  me  as  unostentatiously 
as  possible  into  a  small  hall,  at  the  end  of  which  I 
saw  a  door  with  the  aforesaid  number  on  it. 

"  If  you  will  take  a  seat  inside,"  said  he,  "  I  will 
send  you  whatever  you  may  desire  for  your  com 
fort." 

"  I  think  you  know  what  that  is,"  I  rejoined,  at 
which  he  nodded  again  and  left  me,  closing  the  door 
carefully  behind  him  as  he  went. 

The  few  minutes  which  elapsed  before  my  quiet 
was  disturbed  were  spent  by  me  in  thinking.  There 
were  many  little  questions  to  settle  in  my  own  mind, 
for  which  a  spell  of  uninterrupted  contemplation 
was  necessary.  One  of  these  was  whether,  in  the 
event  of  rinding  the  police  amenable,  I  should 
reveal  or  hide  from  these  children  of  my  old  friend, 
the  fact  that  it  was  through  my  instrumentality  that 
their  nefarious  secret  had  been  discovered.  I  wished 
— nay,  I  hoped — that  the  affair  might  be  so  con 
cluded,  but  the  possibility  of  doing  so  seemed  so 
problematical,  especially  since  Mr.  Gryce  was  not 
on  hand  to  direct  matters,  that  I  spent  very  little 
time  on  the  subject,  deep  and  important  as  it  was 
to  all  concerned. 

What  most  occupied  me  was  the  necessity  of  tell 
ing  my  story  in  such  a  way  as  to  exonerate  the  girls 
as  much  as  possible.  They  were  mistaken  in  their 
devotion  and  most  unhappy  in  the  exercise  of  it, 
but  they  were  not  innately  wicked  and  should  not 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  22$ 

be  made  to  appear  so.  Perhaps  the  one  thing  for 
which  I  should  yet  have  the  best  cause  to  congratu 
late  myself,  would  be  the  opportunity  I  had  gained 
of  giving  to  their  connection  with  this  affair  its 
true  and  proper  coloring. 

I  was  still  dwelling  on  this  thought  when  there 
came  a  knock  at  my  door  which  advised  me  that 
the  visitor  I  expected  had  arrived.  To  open  and 
admit  him  was  the  work  of  a  moment,  but  it  took 
more  than  a  moment  for  me  to  overcome  my  sur 
prise  at  seeing  in  my  visitor  no  lesser  person  than 
Mr.  Gryce  himself,  who  in  our  parting  interview 
had  assured  me  he  was  too  old  and  too  feeble  for 
further  detective  work  and  must  therefore  delegate 
it  to  me. 

"  Ah!  "  I  ejaculated  slowly.  "  It  is  you,  is  it  ? 
Well,  I  am  not  surprised."  (I  should  n't  have  been.) 
'  When  you  say  you  are  old,  you  mean  old  enough 
to  pull  the  wool  over  other  people's  eyes,  and  when 
you  say  you  are  lame,  you  mean  that  you  only  halt 
long  enough  to  let  others  get  far  enough  ahead  for 
them  not  to  see  how  fast  you  hobble  up  behind 
them.  But  do  not  think  I  am  not  happy  to  see 
you.  I  am,  Mr.  Gryce,  for  I  have  discovered  the 
secret  of  Lost  Man's  Lane,  and  find  it  somewhat 
too  heavy  a  one  for  my  own  handling." 

To  my  surprise  he  showed  this  was  more  than  he 
expected. 

'  You  have  ?  "  he  asked,  with  just  that  shade  of 
15 


226  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

incredulity  which  it  is  so  tantalizing  to  encounter. 
'  Then  I  suppose  congratulations  are  in  order.  But 
are  you  sure,  Miss  Butterworth,  that  you  really 
have  obtained  a  clue  to  the  many  strange  and  fear 
ful  disappearances  which  have  given  to  this  lane  its 
name  ?" 

"  Quite  sure,"  I  returned,  nettled.  "  Why  do 
you  doubt  it  ?  Because  I  have  kept  so  quiet  and 
not  sounded  one  note  of  alarm  from  my  whistle  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  he.  "  Knowing  your  self-restraint  so 
well,  I  cannot  say  that  that  is  my  reason." 

"  What  is  it,  then  ?  "  I  urged. 
'  Well,"  said  he,  "  my  real  reason  for  doubting 
if  you  have  been  quite  as  successful  as  you  think,  is 
that  we  ourselves  have  come  upon  a  clue  about  which 
there  can  be  no  question.  Can  you  say  the  same 
of  yours  ?  " 

You  will  expect  my  answer  to  have  been  a  decided 
"  Yes,"  uttered  with  all  the  positiveness  of  which 
you  know  me  capable.  But  for  some  reason,  per 
haps  because  of  the  strange  influence  this  man's 
personality  exercises  upon  all — yes,  all — who  do  not 
absolutely  steel  themselves  against  him,  I  faltered 
just  long  enough  for  him  to  cry: 

"  I  thought  not.  The  clue  is  outside  the  Knollys 
house,  not  in  it,  Miss  Butterworth,  for  which,  of 
course,  you  are  not  to  be  blamed  .or  your  services 
scorned.  I  have  no  doubt  they  have  been  invalu 
able  in  unearthing  a  secret,  if  not  the  secret." 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  22? 

"  Thank  you,"  was  my  quiet  retort.  I  thought 
his  presumption  beyond  all  bounds,  and  would  at 
that  moment  have  felt  justified  in  snapping  my 
fingers  at  the  clue  he  boasted  of,  had  it  not  been  for 
one  thing.  What  that  thing  is  I  am  not  ready  yet 
to  state. 

'  You  and  I  have  come  to  issue  over  such  matters 
before,"  said  he,  "  and  therefore  need  not  take  too 
much  account  of  the  feelings  it  is  likely  to  engen 
der.  I  will  merely  state  that  my  clue  points  to 
Mother  Jane,  and  ask  if  you  have  found  in  the  visit 
she  paid  at  the  house  last  night  anything  which 
would  go  to  strengthen  the  suspicion  against  her." 

'  Perhaps,"  said  I,  in  a  state  of  disdain  that  was 
more  or  less  unpardonable,  considering  that  my  own 
suspicions  previous  to  my  discovery  of  the  real 
tragedy  enacted  under  my  eyes  at  the  Knollys  man 
sion  had  played  more  or  less  about  this  old  crone. 

"Only  perhaps?"  He  smiled,  with  a  playful 
forbearance  for  which  I  should  have  been  truly 
grateful  to  him. 

"  She  was  there  for  no  good  purpose,"  said  I, 
"  and  yet  if  you  had  not  characterized  her  as  the 
person  most  responsible  for  the  crimes  we  are  here 
to  investigate,  I  should  have  said  from  all  that  I 
then  saw  of  her  conduct  that  she  acted  as  a  super 
numerary  rather  than  principal,  and  that  it  is  to  me 
you  should  look  for  the  correct  clue  to  the  criminal, 
notwithstanding  your  confidence  in  your  own  theories 


228  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

and  my  momentary  hesitation  to  assert  that  there 
was  no  possible  defect  in  mine." 

"  Miss  Butterworth,"— I  thought  he  looked  a 
trifle  shaken,—  "  what  did  Mother  Jane  do  in  that 
closely  shuttered  house  last  night  ?  " 

Mother  Jane  ?  Well!  Did  he  think  I  was  going 
to  introduce  my  tragic  story  by  telling  what  Mother 
Jane  did  ?  I  must  have  looked  irritated,  and  indeed 
I  think  I  had  cause. 

Mother  Jane  ate  her  supper,"  I  snapped  out 
angrily.  :<  Miss  Knollys  gave  it  to  her.  Then  she 
helped  a  little  with  a  piece  of  work  they  had  on 
hand.  It  will  not  interest  you  to  know  what.  It 
has  nothing  to  do  with  your  clue,  I  warrant." 

He  did  not  get  angry.  He  has  an  admirable 
temper,  has  Mr.  Gryce,  but  he  did  stop  a  minute  to 
consider. 

"  Miss  Butterworth,"  he  said  at  last,  "  most  de 
tectives  would  have  held  their  peace  and  let  you  go 
on  with  what  you  have  to  tell  without  a  hint  that  it 
was  either  unwelcome  or  unnecessary,  but  I  have 
consideration  for  persons'  feelings  and  for  persons' 
secrets  so  long  as  they  do  not  come  in  collision 
with  the  law,  and  my  opinion  is,  or  was  when  I  en 
tered  this  room,  that  such  discoveries  as  you  have 
made  at  your  old  friend's  house  "  (Why  need  he  em 
phasize  friend — did  he  think  I  forgot  for  a  moment 
that  Althea  was  my  friend  ?)  "  were  connected  rather 
with  some  family  difficulty  than  with  the  dreadful 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  22$ 

affair  we  are  considering.  That  is  why  I  hastened 
to  tell  you  that  we  had  found  a  clue  to  the  disap 
pearances  in  Mother  Jane's  cottage.  I  wished  to 
save  the  Misses  Knollys." 

If  he  had  thought  to  mollify  me  by  this  assertion, 
he  did  not  succeed.  He  saw  it  and  made  haste  to 
say: 

Not  that  I  doubt  your  consideration  for  them, 
only  the  justness  of  your  conclusions." 

You  have  doubted  those  before  and  with  more 
reason,"  I  replied,  "  yet  they  were  not  altogether 
false." 

'  That  I  am  willing  to  acknowledge,  so  willing 
that  if  you  still  think  after  I  have  told  my  story 
that  yours  is  apropos,  then  I  will  listen  to  it  only 
too  eagerly.  My  object  is  to  find  the  real  criminal 
in  this  matter.  I  say  at  the  present  moment  it  is 
Mother  Jane." 

"  God  grant  you  are  right,"  I  said,  influenced  in 
spite  of  myself  by  the  calm  assurance  of  his  manner. 
:<  If  she  was  at  the  house  night  before  last  between 
eleven  and  twelve,  then  perhaps  she  is  all  you  think 
her.  But  I  see  no  reason  to  believe  it — not  yet, 
Mr.  Gryce.  Supposing  you  give  me  one.  It  would 
be  better  than  all  this  controversy.  One  small 
reason,  Mr.  Gryce,  as  good  as  "  — I  did  not  say 
what,  but  the  fillip  it  gave  to  his  intention  stood  me 
in  good  stead,  for  he  launched  immediately  into  the 
matter  with  no  further  play  upon  my  curiosity, 


230  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

which  was  now,  as  you  can  believe,  thoroughly 
aroused,  though  I  could  not  believe  that  anything 
he  had  to  bring  up  against  Mother  Jane  could  for  a 
moment  stand  against  the  death  and  the  burial  I 
had  witnessed  in  Miss  Knollys'  house  during  the 
two  previous  nights. 


XXIV 

THE  ENIGMA  OF  NUMBERS 

WHEN  in  our  first  conversation  on  this  topic 
I  told  you  that  Mother  Jane  was  not  to 
be  considered  in  this  matter,  I  meant  she  was  not 
to  be  considered  by  you.  She  was  a  subject  to  be 
handled  by  the  police,  and  we  have  handled  her. 
Yesterday  afternoon  I  made  a  search  of  her  cabin." 
Here  Mr.  Gryce  paused  and  eyed  me  quizzically. 
He  sometimes  does  eye  me,  which  same  I  cannot 
regard  as  a  compliment,  considering  how  fond  he  is 
of  concentrating  all  his  wisdom  upon  small  and  in 
significant  objects. 

I  wonder,"  said  he,  4<  what  you  would  have 
done  in  such  a  search  as  that.  It  was  no  common 
one,  I  assure  you.  There  are  not  many  hiding- 
places  between  Mother  Jane's  four  walls." 

I  felt  myself  begin  to  tremble,  with  eagerness,  of 
course. 

"  I  wish  I  had  been  given  the  opportunity,"  said 
I — "  that  is,  if  anything  was  to  be  found  there." 

He  seemed  to  be  in  a  sympathetic  mood  toward 
me,  or  perhaps — and  this  is  the  likelier  supposition 

231 


2$2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

— he  had  a  minute  of  leisure  and  thought  he  could 
afford  to  give  himself  a  little  quiet  amusement. 
However  that  was,  he  answered  me  by  saying: 

'  The  opportunity  is  not  lost.  You  have  been  in 
her  cabin  and  have  noted,  I  have  no  doubt,  its  ex 
treme  simplicity.  Yet  it  contains,  or  rather  did 
contain  up  till  last  night,  distinct  evidences  of  more 
than  one  of  the  crimes  which  have  been  perpetrated 
in  this  lane." 

"  Good  !  And  you  want  me  to  guess  where  you 
found  them  ?  Well,  it  's  not  fair." 

"  Ah,  and  why  not  ?  " 

"  Because  you  probably  did  not  find  them  on 
your  first  attempt.  You  had  time  to  look  about.  I 
am  asked  to  guess  at  once  and  without  second  trial 
what  I  warrant  it  took  you  several  trials  to  deter 
mine. " 

He  could  not  help  but  laugh.  "  And  why  do  you 
think  it  took  me  several  trials  ?  " 

"  Because  there  is  more  than  one  thing  in  that 
room  made  up  of  parts." 

"  Parts  ?"  He  attempted  to  look  puzzled,  but 
I  would  not  have  it. 

"  You  know  what  I  mean,"  I  declared;  "  seventy 
parts,  twenty-eight,  or  whatever  the  numbers  are 
she  so  constantly  mutters." 

His  admiration  was  unqualified  and  sincere. 

"  Miss  Butterworth,"  said  he,  "  you  are  a  woman 
after  my  own  heart.  How  came  you  to  think  that 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  233 

her  mutterings  had  anything  to  do  with  a  hiding- 
place  ?  " 

"  Because  it  did  not  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  amount  of  money  I  gave  her.  When  I  handed 
her  twenty-five  cents,  she  cried,  '  Seventy,  twenty- 
eight,  and  now  ten ! '  Ten  what  ?  Not  ten  cents  or 
ten  dollars,  but  ten ' 

"  Why  do  you  stop  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  want  to  risk  my  reputation  on  a  guess. 
There  is  a  quilt  on  the  bed  made  up  of  innumer 
able  pieces.  There  is  a  floor  of  neatly  laid  brick 


"  And  there  is  a  Bible  on  the  stand  whose  leaves 
number  many  over  seventy." 

"  Ah,  it  was  in  the  Bible  you  found " 

His  smile  put  mine  quite  to  shame. 

"  I  must  acknowledge,"  he  cried,  "  that  I  looked 
in  the  Bible,  but  I  found  nothing  there  beyond 
what  we  all  seek  when  we  open  its  sacred  covers. 
Shall  I  tell  my  story  ?  " 

He  was  evidently  bursting  with  pride.  You  would 
think  that  after  a  half-century  of  just  such  successes, 
a  man  would  take  his  honors  more  quietly.  But 
pshaw!  Human  nature  is  just  the  same  in  the  old 
as  in  the  young.  He  was  no  more  tired  of  compli 
ment  or  of  awakening  the  astonishment  of  those  he 
confided  in,  than  when  he  aroused  the  admiration 
of  the  force  by  his  triumphant  handling  of  the 
Leavenworth  Case.  Of  course  in  presence  of  such 


234  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

weakness  I  could  do  nothing  less  than  give  him  a 
sympathetic  ear.  I  may  be  old  myself  some  day. 
Besides,  his  story  was  likely  to  prove  more  or  less 
interesting. 

'  Tell  your  story?  "  I  repeated.  "  Don't  you  see 
that  I  am  " — I  was  going  to  say  "  on  pins  and 
needles  till  I  hear  it,"  but  the  expression  is  too  vul 
gar  for  a  woman  of  my  breeding;  so  I  altered  the 
words,  happily  before  they  were  spoken,  into  "  that 
I  am  in  a  state  of  the  liveliest  curiosity  concerning 
the  whole  matter  ?  Tell  your  story,  of  course." 

'  Well,  Miss  Butterworth,  if  I  do,  it  is  because  I 
know  you  will  appreciate  it.  You,  like  myself, 
placed  weight  upon  the  numbers  she  is  forever  run 
ning  over,  and  you,  like  myself,  have  conceived  the 
possibility  of  these  numbers  having  reference  to 
something  in  the  one  room  she  inhabits.  At  first 
glance  the  extreme  bareness  of  the  spot  seemed  to 
promise  nothing  to  my  curiosity.  I  looked  at  the 
floor  and  detected  no  signs  of  any  disturbance  having 
taken  place  in  its  symmetrically  laid  bricks  for 
years.  Yet  I  counted  up  to  seventy  one  way  and 
twenty-eight  the  other,  and  marking  the  brick  thus 
selected,  began  to  pry  it  out.  It  came  with  diffi 
culty  and  showed  me  nothing  underneath  but  green 
mold  and  innumerable  frightened  insects.  Then  I 
counted  the  bricks  the  other  way,  but  nothing  came 
of  it.  The  floor  does  not  appear  to  have  been  dis 
turbed  for  years.  Turning  my  attention  away  from 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  2$$ 

the  floor,  I  began  upon  the  quilt.  This  was  a  worse 
job  than  the  other,  and  it  took  me  an  hour  to  rip 
apart  the  block  I  settled  upon  as  the  suspicious  one, 
but  my  labor  was  entirely  wasted.  There  was  no 
hidden  treasure  in  the  quilt.  Then  I  searched  the 
walls,  using  the  measurements  seventy  by  twenty- 
eight,  but  no  result  followed  these  endeavors,  and 
— well,  what  do  you  think  I  did  then  ?  " 

"  You  will  tell  me,"  I  said,  "  if  I  give  you  one 
more  minute  to  do  it  in." 

"  Very  well,"  said  he.  "  I  see  you  do  not  know, 
madam.  Having  searched  below  and  around  me,  I 
next  turned  my  attention  overhead.  Do  you  re 
member  the  strings  and  strings  of  dried  vegetables 
that  decorate  the  beams  above  ?  " 

"  I  do,"  I  replied,  not  stinting  any  of  the  aston 
ishment  I  really  felt. 

Well,  I  began  to  count  them  next,  and  when  I 
reached  the  seventieth  onion  from  the  open  door 
way,  I  crushed  it  between  my  fingers  and — these  fell 
out,  madam — worthless  trinkets,  as  you  will  immedi 
ately  see,  but " 

"  Well,  well,"  I  urged. 

'  They  have  been  identified  as  belonging  to  the 
peddler  who  was  one  of  the  victims  in  whose  fate  we 
are  interested." 

"Ah,  ah!"  I  ejaculated,  somewhat  amazed,  I 
own.  "  And  number  twenty-eight  ?  " 

1  That  was  a  carrot,  and  it  held  a  really  valuable 


236  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ring — a  ruby  surrounded  by  diamonds.  If  you  re 
member,  I  once  spoke  to  you  of  this  ring.  It  was 
the  property  of  young  Mr.  Chittenden  and  worn  by 
him  while  he  was  in  this  village.  He  disappeared 
on  his  way  to  the  railway  station,  having  taken,  as 
many  can  vouch,  the  short  detour  by  Lost  Man's 
Lane,  which  would  lead  him  directly  by  Mother 
Jane's  cottage." 

'  You  thrill  me,"  said  I,  keeping  down  with  ad 
mirable  self-possession  my  own  thoughts  in  regard 
to  this  matter.  "  And  what  of  No.  ten,  beyond 
which  she  said  she  could  not  count  ?  " 

;<  In  ten  was  your  twenty-five-cent  piece,  and  in 
various  other  vegetables,  small  coins,  whose  value 
taken  collectively  would  not  amount  to  a  dollar. 
The  only  numbers  which  seemed  to  make  any  im 
pression  on  her  mind  were  those  connected  with 
these  crimes.  Very  good  evidence,  Miss  Butter- 
worth,  that  Mother  Jane  holds  the  clue  to  this 
matter,  even  if  she  is  not  responsible  for  the  death 
of  the  individuals  represented  by  this  property." 

"  Certainly,"  I  acquiesced,  "and  if  you  examined 
her  after  her  return  from  the  Knollys  mansion  last 
night  you  would  probably  have  found  upon  her  some 
similar  evidence  of  her  complicity  in  the  last  crime 
of  this  terrible  series.  It  would  needs  have  been 
small,  as  Silly  Rufus  neither  indulged  in  the  brass 
trinkets  sold  by  the  old  peddler  nor  the  real  jewelry 
of  a  well-to-do  man  like  Mr.  Chittenden." 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  237 

•  "  Silly  Rufus  ?" 
"  He  was  the  last  to  disappear  from  these  parts, 

was  he  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  madam." 

"  And  as  such,  should  have  left  some  clue  to  his 
fate  in  the  hands  of  this  old  crone,  if  her  motive  in 
removing  him  was,  as  you  seem  to  think,  entirely 
that  of  gain." 

"  I  did  not  say  it  was  entirely  so.  Silly  Rufus 
would  be  the  last  person  any  one,  even  such  a  non 
compos  mentis  as  Mother  Jane,  would  destroy  for 
hope  of  gain." 

14  But  what  other  motive  could  she  have  ?  And, 
Mr.  Gryce,  where  could  she  bestow  the  bodies  of 
so  many  unfortunate  victims,  even  if  by  her  great 
strength  she  could  succeed  in  killing  them  ?  " 

"  There  you  have  me,"  said  he.  '  We  have  not 
been  able  as  yet  to  unearth  any  bodies.  Have 
you  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  I,  with  some  little  show  of  triumph 
showing  through  my  disdain,  "  but  I  can  show  you 
where  to  unearth  one." 

He  should  have  been  startled,  profoundly  startled. 
Why  was  n't  he  ?  I  asked  this  of  myself  over  and 
over  in  the  one  instant  he  weighed  his  words  before 
answering. 

'  You  have  made  some  definite  discoveries,  then," 
he  declared.  '  You  have  come  across  a  grave  or  a 
mound  which  you  have  taken  for  a  grave." 


238  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I  shook  my  head. 

"  No  mound,"  said  I.  Why  should  I  not  play 
for  an  instant  or  more  with  his  curiosity  ?  He  had 
with  mine. 

"  Ah,  then,  why  do  you  talk  of  unearthing  ?  No 
one  has  told  you  where  you  can  lay  hand  on  Silly 
Rufus'  body,  I  take  it." 

"  No,"  said  I.  '  The  Knollys  house  is  not  in 
clined  to  give  up  its  secrets." 

He  started,  glancing  almost  remorsefully  first  at 
the  tip,  then  at  the  head  of  the  cane  he  was  bal 
ancing  in  his  hand. 

"  It 's  too  bad,"  he  muttered,  "  but  you  've  been 
led  astray,  Miss  Butterworth, — excusably,  I  acknowl 
edge,  quite  excusably,  but  yet  in  a  way  to  give  you 
quite  wrong  conclusions.  The  secret  of  the  Knollys 
house —  But  wait  a  moment.  Then  you  were  not 
locked  up  in  your  room  last  night  ?  " 

"  Scarcely,"  I  returned,  wavering  between  the 
doubts  he  had  awakened  by  his  first  sentence  and 
the  surprise  which  his  last  could  not  fail  to  give 
me. 

"  I  might  have  known  they  would  not  be  likely 
to  catch  you  in  a  trap,"  he  remarked.  "  So  you 
were  up  and  in  the  halls  ?  " 

"  I  was  up,"  I  acknowledged,  "  and  in  the  halls. 
May  I  ask  where  you  were  ?  " 

He  paid  no  heed  to  the  last  sentence.  "  This 
complicates  matters,"  said  he,  "  and  yet  perhaps  it 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  239 

is  as  well.  I  understand  you  now,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  you  will  understand  me.  You  thought  it 
was  Silly  Rufus  who  was  buried  last  night.  That 
was  rather  an  awful  thought,  Miss  Butterworth.  I 
wonder,  with  that  in  your  mind,  you  look  as  well  as 
you  do  this  morning,  madam.  Truly  you  are  a 
wonderful  woman — a  very  wonderful  woman." 

"  A  truce  to  compliments,"  I  begged.  '  If  you 
know  as  much  as  your  words  imply  of  what  went  on 
in  that  ill-omened  house  last  night,  you  ought  to 
show  some  degree  of  emotion  yourself,  for  if  it  was 
not  Silly  Rufus  who  was  laid  away  under  the  Flower 
Parlor,  who,  then,  was  it  ?  No  one  for  whom  tears 
could  openly  be  shed  or  of  whose  death  public  ac 
knowledgment  could  be  made,  or  we  would  not  be 
sitting  here  talking  away  at  cross  purposes  the 
morning  after  his  burial." 

'  Tears  are  not  shed  or  public  acknowledgment 
made  for  the  subject  of  a  half-crazy  man's  love  for 
scientific  investigation.  It  was  no  human  being 
whom  you  saw  buried,  madam,  but  a  victim  of  Mr. 
Knollys*  passion  for  vivisection." 

'  You  are  playing  with  me,"  was  my  indignant 
answer  ;  "  outrageously  and  inexcusably  playing 
with  me.  Only  a  human  being  would  be  laid  away 
in  such  secrecy  and  with  such  manifestations  of  feel 
ing  as  I  was  witness  to.  You  must  think  me  in  my 
dotage,  or  else " 

"  We    will    take    the    rest    of    the    sentence    for 


240  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

granted,"  he  dryly  interpolated.  '  You  know  that 
I  can  have  no  wish  to  insult  your  intelligence,  Miss 
Butterworth,  and  that  if  I  advance  a  theory  on  my 
own  account  I  must  have  ample  reasons  for  it.  Now 
can  you  say  the  same  for  yours  ?  Can  you  adduce 
irrefutable. proof  that  the  body  we  buried  last  night 
was  that  of  a  man  ?  If  you  can,  there  is  no  more 
to  be  said,  or,  rather,  there  is  everything  to  be  said, 
for  this  would  give  to  the  transaction  a  very  dread 
ful  and  tragic  significance  which  at  present  T  am  not 
disposed  to  ascribe  to  it." 

Taken  aback  by  his  persistence,  but  determined 
not  to  acknowledge  defeat  until  forced  to  it,  I 
stolidly  replied :  '  You  have  made  an  assertion, 
and  it  is  for  you  to  adduce  proof.  It  will  be  time 
enough  for  me  to  talk  when  your  own  theory  is 
proved  untenable." 

He  was  not  angry :  fellow-feeling  for  my  disap 
pointment  made  him  unusually  gentle.  His  voice 
was  therefore  very  kind  when  he  said : 

"  Madam,  if  you  know  it  to  have  been  a  man, 
say  so.  I  do  not  wish  to  waste  my  time." 

"  I  do  not  know  it." 

"  Very  well,  then,  I  will -tell  you  why  I  think  my 
supposition  true.  Mr.  Knollys,  as  you  probably 
have  already  discovered,  is  a  man  with  a  secret 
passion  for  vivisection." 

'  Yes,  I  have  discovered  that." 

"  It  is  known  to  his  family,  and  it  is  known  to  a 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  241 

very  few  others,  but  it  is  not  known  to  the  world  at 
large,  not  even  to  his  fellow-villagers. ' 

"  I  can  believe  it,"  said  I. 

;<  His  sisters,  who  are  gentle  girls,  regard  the 
matter  as  the  gentle-hearted  usually  do.  They 
have  tried  in  every  way  to  influence  him  to  abandon 
it,  but  unsuccessfully  so  far,  for  he  is  not  only  en 
tirely  unamenable  to  persuasion,  but  has  a  nature  of 
such  brutality  he  could  not  live  without  some  such 
excitement  to  help  away  his  life  in  this  dreary 
house.  All  they  can  do,  then,  is  to  conceal  these 
cruelties  from  the  eyes  of  the  people  who  already 
execrate  him  for  his  many  roughnesses  and  the  un 
doubted  shadow  under  which  he  lives.  Time  was 
when  I  thought  this  shadow  had  a  substance  worth 
our  investigation,  but  a  further  knowledge  of  his 
re,al  fault  and  a  completer  knowledge  of  his  sisters' 
virtues  turned  my  inquiries  in  a  new  direction, 
where  I  have  found,  as  I  have  told  you,  actual 
reason  for  arresting  Mother  Jane.  Have  you  any 
thing  to  say  against  these  conclusions  ?  Cannot 
you  see  that  all  your  suspicions  can  be  explained  by 
the  brother's  cruel  impulses  and  the  sisters'  horror 
of  having  those  impulses  known  ?  " 

I  thought  a  moment;  then  I  cried  out  boldly: 
"  No,  I  cannot,  Mr.  Gryce.  The  anxiety,  the  fear, 
which  I  have  seen  depicted  on  these  sisters'  faces 
for  days  might  be  explained  perhaps  by  this  theory; 
but  the  knot  of  crape  on  the  window-shutter,  the 

16 


242  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

open  Bible  in  the  room  of  death — William's  room, 
Mr.  Gryce, — proclaim  that  it  was  a  human  being, 
and  nothing  less,  for  whom  Lucetta's  sobs  went  up." 
I  do  not  follow  you,"  he  said,  moved  for  the 
first  time  from  his  composure.  "  What  do  you 
mean  by  a  knot  of  crape,  and  when  was  it  you  ob 
tained  entrance  into  William's  room  ?  " 

"  Ah,"  I  exclaimed  in  dry  retort;  "  you  are  be 
ginning  to  see  that  I  have  something  as  interesting 
to  report  as  yourself.  Did  you  think  me  a  super 
ficial  egotist,  without  facts  to  back  my  asser 
tions  ?" 

I  should  not  have  done  you  that  injustice." 

"  I  have  penetrated,  I  think,  deeper  than  even 
yourself,  into  William's  character.  I  think  him 
capable—  But  do  satisfy  my  curiosity  on  one  point 
first,  Mr.  Gryce.  How  came  you  to  know  as  much 
as  you  do  about  last  night's  proceedings  ?  You 
could  not  have  been  in  the  house.  Did  Mother 
Jane  talk  after  she  got  back  ?  " 

The  tip  of  his  cane  was  up,  and  he  frowned  at  it. 
Then  the  handle  took  its  place,  and  he  gave  it  a 
good-natured  smile. 

Miss  Butterworth,"  said  he,  "  I  have  not  suc 
ceeded  in  making  Mother  Jane  at  any  time  go 
beyond  her  numerical  monologue.  But  you  have 
been  more  successful."  And  with  a  sudden  mar 
vellous  change  of  expression,  pose,  and  manner  he 
threw  over  his  head  my  shawl,  which  had  fallen  to 


FORWARD  AND   BACK  243 

the  floor  in  my  astonishment,  and,  rocking  himself 
to  and  fro  before  me,  muttered  grimly : 

"Seventy!     Twenty-eight!     Ten!     No  more!     I 
can  count  no  more!     Go." 

Mr.  Gryce,  it  was  you— 

'  Whom  you  interviewed  in  Mother  Jane's  cot 
tage  with  Mr.  Knollys,"  he  finished.  "  And  it  was 
/who  helped  to  bury  what  you  now  declare,  to  my 
real  terror  and  astonishment,  to  have  been  a  human 
being.  Miss  Butterworth,  what  about  the  knot  of 
crape?  Tell  me." 


XXV 

TRIFLES,    BUT   NOT   TRIFLING 

I   WAS  so  astounded  I  hardly  took  in  this  final 
question. 

He  had  been  the  sixth  party  in  the  funeral  cortege 
I  had  seen  pause  in  the  Flower  Parlor.  Well,  what 
might  I  not  expect  from  this  man  next! 

But  I  am  methodical  even  under  the  greatest  ex 
citement  and  at  the  most  critical  instants,  as  those 
who  have  read  That  Affair  Next  Door  have  had 
ample  opportunity  to  know.  Once  having  taken  in 
the  startling  fact  he  mentioned,  I  found  it  impos 
sible  to  proceed  to  establish  my  standpoint  till  I 
knew  a  little  more  about  his. 

Wait,"  I  said;  "  tell  me  first  if  I  have  ever 
seen  the  real  Mother  Jane;  or  were  you  the  person 
I  saw  stooping  in  the  road,  and  of  whom  I  bought 
the  pennyroyal  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  replied;  "  that  was  the  old  woman 
herself.  My  appearance  in  the  cottage  dates  from 
yesterday  noon.  I  felt  the  need  of  being  secretly 
near  you,  and  I  also  wished  for  an  opportunity  to 
examine  this  humble  interior  unsuspected  and  un- 

244 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  24$ 

observed.  So  T  prevailed  upon  the  old  woman  to 
exchange  places  with  me ;  she  taking  up  her  abode 
in  the  woods  for  the  night  and  I  her  old  stool  on 
the  hearthstone.  She  was  the  more  willing  to  do 
this  from  the  promise  I  gave  her  to  watch  out  for 
Lizzie.  That  I  would  don  her  own  Sunday  suit  and 
personate  her  in  her  own  home  she  evidently  did 
not  suspect.  Had  not  wit  enough,  I  suppose.  At 
the  present  moment  she  is  back  in  her  old  place." 

I  nodded  my  thanks  for  this  explanation,  but  was 
not  deterred  from  pressing  the  point  I  was  anxious 
to  have  elucidated. 

"  If,"  I  went  on  to  urge,  "  you  took  advantage 
of  your  disguise  to  act  as  assistant  in  the  burial 
which  took  place  last  night,  you  are  in  a  much 
better  situation  than  myself  to  decide  the  question 
we  are  at  present  considering.  Was  it  because  of 
any  secret  knowledge  thus  gained  you  declare  so 
positively  that  it  was  not  a  human  being  you  helped 
lower  in  its  grave  ?  ' ' 

"  Partially.  Having  some  skill  in  these  disguises, 
especially  where  my  own  infirmities  can  have  full 
play,  as  in  the  case  of  this  strong  but  half-bent 
woman,  I  had  no  reason  to  think  my  own  identity 
was  suspected,  much  less  discovered.  Therefore  I 
could  trust  to  what  I  saw  and  heard  as  being  just 
what  Mother  Jane  herself  would  be  allowed  to  see  or 
hear  under  the  same  circumstances.  If,  therefore, 
these  young  people  and  this  old  crone  had  been,  as 


246  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

you  seem  to  think  they  are,  in  league  for  murder, 
Lucetta  would  hardly  have  greeted  me  as  she  did 
when  she  came  down  to  meet  me  in  the  kitchen." 

"  And  how  was  that  ?     What  did  she  say  ?  " 

"  She  said:  '  Ah,  Mother  Jane,  we  have  a  piece 
of  work  for  you.  You  are  strong,  are  you  not  ? ' 

"  Humph!" 

"  And  then  she  commiserated  me  a  bit  and  gave 
me  food  which,  upon  my  word,  I  found  hard  to  eat, 
though  I  had  saved  my  appetite  for  the  occasion. 
Before  she  left  me  she  bade  me  sit  in  the  ingle- 
nook  till  she  wanted  me,  adding  in  Hannah's  ear  as 
she  passed  her:  '  There  is  no  use  trying  to  explain 
anything  to  her.  Show  her  when  the  time  comes 
what  there  is  to  do  and  trust  to  her  short  memory 
to  forget  it  before  she  leaves  the  house.  She  could 
not  understand  my  brother's  propensity  or  our 
shame  in  pandering  to  it.  So  attempt  nothing, 
Hannah.  Only  keep  the  money  in  her  view.'  ' 

"  So,  and  that  gave  you  no  idea  ?  " 

"  It  gave  me  the  idea  I  have  imparted  to  you,  or, 
rather,  added  to  the  idea  which  had  been  instilled 
in  me  by  others." 

"  And  this  idea  was  not  affected  by  what  you  saw 
afterwards  ? " 

;<  Not  in  the  least — rather  strengthened.  Of  the 
few  words  I  overheard,  one  was  uttered  in  reference 
to  yourself  by  Miss  Knollys.  She  said :  '  I  have 
locked  Miss  Butterworth  again  into  her  room.  If 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  247 

she  accuses  me  of  having  done  so,  I  shall  tell  her 
our  whole  story.  Better  she  should  know  the 
family's  disgrace  than  imagine  us  guilty  of  crimes 
of  which  we  are  utterly  incapable. '  ' 

"  So!  so!  "  I  cried,  "  you  heard  that  ?" 

"  Yes,  madam,  I  heard  that,  and  I  do  not  think 
she  knew  she  was  dropping  that  word  into  the  ear 
of  a  detective,  but  on  this  point  you  are,  of  course, 
at  liberty  to  differ  with  me." 

"  I  am  not  yet  ready  to  avail  myself  of  the  privi 
lege,"  I  retorted.  '  What  else  did  these  girls  let 
fall  in  your  hearing  ?  " 

"  Not  much.  It  was  Hannah  who  led  me  into 
the  upper  hall,  and  Hannah  who  by  signs  and  signals 
rather  than  words  showed  me  what  was  expected  of 
me.  However,  when,  after  the  box  was  lowered 
into  the  cellar,  Hannah  was  drawing  me  away, 
Lucetta  stepped  up  and  whispered  in  her  ear: 
Don't  give  her  the  biggest  coin.  Give  her  the 
little  one,  or  she  may  mistake  our  reasons  for 
secrecy.  I  would  n't  like  even  a  fool  to  do  that, 
even  for  the  moment  it  would  remain  lodged  in 
Mother  Jane's  mind/  ' 

1  Well,  well,"  I  again  cried,  certainly  puzzled, 
for  these  stray  expressions  of  the  sisters  were  in  a 
measure  contradictory  not  only  of  the  suspicions  I 
entertained,  but  of  the  facts  which  had  seemingly 
come  to  my  attention. 

Mr.  Gryce,  who  was  probably  watching  my  face 


248  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

more  closely  than  he  did  the  cane  with  whose  move 
ments  he  was  apparently  engrossed,  stopped  to  give 
a  caressing  rub  to  the  knob  of  that  same  cane  before 
remarking : 

"  One  such  peep  behind  the  scenes  is  worth  any 
amount  of  surmise  expended  on  the  wrong  side  of 
the  curtain.  I  let  you  share  my  knowledge  because 
it  is  your  due.  Now  if  you  feel  willing  to  explain 
what  you  mean  by  a  knot  of  crape  on  the  shutter,  I 
am  at  your  service,  madam." 

I  felt  that  it  would  be  cruel  to  delay  my  story 
longer,  and  so  I  began  it.  It  was  evidently  more 
interesting  than  he  expected,  and  as  I  dilated  upon 
the  special  features  which  had  led  me  to  believe  that 
it  was  a  thinking,  suffering  mortal  like  ourselves 
who  had  been  shut  up  in  William's  room  and  after 
wards  buried  in  the  cellar  under  the  Flower  Parlor, 
I  saw  his  face  lengthen  and  doubt  take  the  place  of 
the  quiet  assurance  with  which  he  had  received  my 
various  intimations  up  to  this  time.  The  cane  was 
laid  aside,  and  from  the  action  of  his  right  forefinger 
on  the  palm  of  his  left  hand  I  judged  that  I  was 
making  no  small  impression  on  his  mind.  When  I 
had  finished,  he  sat  for  a  minute  silent;  then  he 
said: 

"  Thanks,  Miss  Butterworth  ;  you  have  more 
than  fulfilled  my  hopes.  What  we  buried  was  un 
doubtedly  human,  and  the  question  now  is,  Who 
was  it,  and  of  what  death  did  he  die  ?"  Then, 


FORWARD  AND   BACK  249 

after  a  meaning   pause:  "  You  think   it    was    Silly 
Rufus." 

I  will  astonish  you  with  my  reply.  '  No,"  said 
I,  "  I  do  not.  That  is  where  you  make  a  mistake, 
Mr.  Gryce." 


XXVI 

A   POINT   GAINED 

HE  was  surprised,  for  all  his  attempts  to  conceal 
it. 

"  No  ?  "  said  he.  "  Who,  then  ?  You  are  be 
coming  interesting,  Miss  Butterworth. " 

This  I  thought  I  could  afford  to  ignore. 

'  Yesterday,"  I  proceeded,  "  I  would  have  de 
clared  it  to  be  Silly  Rufus,  in  the  face  of  God  and 
man,  but  after  what  I  saw  in  William's  room  during 
the  hurried  survey  I  gave  it,  I  am  inclined  to  doubt 
if  the  explanation  we  have  to  give  to  this  affair  is  so 
simple  as  that  would  make  it.  Mr.  Gryce,  in  one 
corner  of  that  room,  from  which  the  victim  had  so 
lately  been  carried,  was  a  pair  of  shoes  that  could 
never  have  been  worn  by  any  boy-tramp  I  have  ever 
seen  or  known  of." 

'  They  were  Loreen's,  or  possibly  Lucetta's. " 

'  No,  Loreen  and  Lucetta  both  have  trim  feet,  but 
these  were  the  shoes  of  a  child  of  ten,  very  dainty  at 
that,  and  of  a  cut  and  make  worn  by  women,  or 
rather,  I  should  say,  by  girls.  Now,  what  do  you 
make  of  that  ?" 

250 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  251 

He  did  not  seem  to  know  what  to  make  of  it. 
Tap,  tap  went  his  finger  on  his  seasoned  palm,  and 
as  I  watched  the  slowness  with  which  it  fell,  I  said 
to  myself,  "  I  have  proposed  a  problem  this  time 
that  will  tax  even  Mr.  Gryce's  powers  of  deduction. ' ' 
And  I  had.  It  was  minutes  before  he  ventured 
an  opinion,  and  then  it  was  with  a  shade  of  doubt 
in  his  tone  that  I  acknowledge  to  have  felt  some 
pride  in  producing. 

'  They  were  Lucetta's  shoes.  The  emotions 
under  which  you  labored — very  pardonable  emo 
tions,  madam,  considering  the  circumstances  and 
the  hour " 

Excuse  me,"  said  I.  '  We  do  not  want  to 
waste  a  moment.  I  was  excited,  suitably  and  duly 
excited,  or  I  would  have  been  a  stone.  But  I 
never  lose  my  head  under  excitement,  nor  do  I  part 
with  my  sense  of  proportion.  The  shoes  were  not 
Lucetta's.  She  never  wore  any  approaching  them 
in  smallness  since  her  tenth  year." 

Has  Simsbury  a  daughter  ?  Has  there  not 
been  a  child  about  the  house  some  time  to  assist 
the  cook  in  errands  and  so  on  ?  " 

No,  or  I  should  have  seen  her.  Besides,  how 
would  the  shoes  of  such  a  person  come  into  William's 
room  ? ' ' 

Easily.  Secrecy  was  required.  You  were  not 
to  be  disturbed ;  so  shoes  were  taken  off  that  quiet 
might  result." 


252  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

*  Was  Lucetta  shoeless  or  William  or  even 
Mother  Jane  ?  You  have  not  told  me  that  you 
were  requested  to  walk  in  stocking  feet  up  the  hall. 
No,  Mr.  Gryce,  the  shoes  were  the  shoes  of  a  girl. 
I  know  it  because  it  was  matched  by  a  dress  I  saw 
hanging  up  in  a  sort  of  wardrobe." 

"  Ah!     You  looked  into  the  wardrobe  ?  " 

"  I  did  and  felt  justified  in  doing  so.  It  was  after 
I  had  spied  the  shoes." 

"  Very  good.     And  you  saw  a  dress  ?  " 

"  A  little  dress;  a  dress  with  a  short  skirt.  It 
was  of  silk  too ;  another  anomaly — and  the  color,  I 
think,  was  blue,  but  I  cannot  swear  to  that  point. 
I  was  in  great  haste  and  took  the  briefest  glance. 
But  my  brief  glances  can  be  trusted,  Mr.  Gryce. 
That,  I  think,  you  are  beginning  to  know." 

"  Certainly,"  said  he,  "  and  as  proof  of  it  we  will 
now  act  upon  these  two  premises — that  the  victim 
in  whose  burial  I  was  an  innocent  partaker  was  a 
human  being  and  that  this  human  being  was  a  girl- 
child  who  came  into  the  house  well  dressed.  Now 
where  does  that  lead  us  ?  Into  a  maze,  I  fear." 
'  We  are  accustomed  to  mazes,"  I  observed. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered  somewhat  gloomily,  "  but 
they  are  not  exactly  desirable  in  this  case.  I  want 
to  find  the  Knollys  family  innocent." 

"  And  I.  But  William's  character,  I  fear,  will 
make  that  impossible." 

"  But  this  girl  ?     Who  is  she,  and  where  did  she 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  253 

come  from  ?  No  girl  has  been  reported  to  us  as 
missing  from  this  neighborhood." 

"  I  supposed  not." 

"  A  visitor —  But  no  visitor  could  enter  this  house 
without  it  being  known  far  and  wide.  Why,  I 
heard  of  your  arrival  here  before  I  left  the  train  on 
which  I  followed  you.  Had  we  allowed  ourselves 
to  be  influenced  by  what  the  people  about  here  say, 
we  would  have  turned  the  Knollys  house  inside  out 
a  week  ago.  But  I  don't  believe  in  putting  too 
much  confidence  in  the  prejudice  of  country  people. 
The  idea  they  suggested,  and  which  you  suggest 
without  putting  it  too  clearly  into  words,  is  much 
too  horrible  to  be  acted  upon  without  the  best  of 
reasons.  Perhaps  we  have  found  those  reasons,  yet 
I  still  feel  like  asking,  Where  did  this  girl  come  from 
and  how  could  she  have  become  a  prisoner  in  the 
Knollys  house  without  the  knowledge  of —  Madam, 
have  you  met  Mr.  Trohm  ?" 

The  question  was  so  sudden  I  had  not  time  to 
collect  myself.  But  perhaps  it  was  not  necessary 
that  I  should,  for  the  simple  affirmation  I  used 
seemed  to  satisfy  Mr.  Gryce,  who  went  on  to  say : 

"  It  is  he  who  first  summoned  us  here,  and  it  is 
he  who  has  the  greatest  interest  in  locating  the 
source  of  these  disappearances,  yet  he  has  seen  no 
child  come  here." 

"  Mr.  Trohm  is  not  a  spy,"  said  I,  but  the  re 
mark,  happily,  fell  unheeded. 


254  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  No  one  has,"  he  pursued.  '  We  must  give 
another  turn  to  our  suppositions." 

Suddenly  a  silence  fell  upon  us  both.  His  finger 
ceased  to  lay  down  the  law,  and  my  gaze,  which 
had  been  searching  his  face  inquiringly,  became 
fixed.  At  the  same  moment  and  in  much  the  same 
tone  of  voice  we  both  spoke,  he  saying,  "  Humph !  " 
and  I,  "  Ah!"  as  a  prelude  to  the  simultaneous 
exclamation : 

'  The  phantom  coach!  " 

We  were  so  pleased  with  this  discovery  that  we 
allowed  a  moment  to  pass  in  silent  contemplation 
of  each  other's  satisfaction.  Then  he  quietly  added  : 

'  Which  on  the  evening  preceding  your  arrival 
came  from  the  mountains  and  passed  into  Lost 
Man's  Lane,  from  which  no  one  ever  saw  it  emerge." 

"  It  was  no  phantom,"  I  put  in. 

"  It  was  their  own  old  coach  bringing  to  the  house 
a  fresh  victim." 

This  sounded  so  startling  we  both  sat  still  for  a 
moment,  lost  in  the  horror  of  it,  then  I  spoke : 

People  living  in  remote  and  isolated  quarters  like 
this  are  naturally  superstitious.  The  Knollys  family 
know  this,  and,  remembering  the  old  legend,  forbore 
to  contradict  the  conclusions  of  their  neighbors. 
Loreen's  emotion  when  the  topic  was  broached  to 
her  is  explained  by  this  theory." 

"It  is  not  a  pleasant  one,  but  we  cannot  be 
wrong  in  contemplating  it." 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  255 

"  Not  at  all.  This  apparition,  as  they  call  it,  was 
seen  by  two  persons;  therefore  it  was  no  apparition 
but  a  real  coach.  It  came  from  the  mountains,  that 
is,  from  the  Mountain  Station,  and  it  glided — ah!  " 

"  Well  ?" 

"  Mr.  Gryce,  it  was  its  noiselessness  that  gave  it 
its  spectral  appearance.  Now  I  remember  a  petty 
circumstance  which  I  dare  you  to  match,  in  corrobo- 
ration  of  our  suspicions." 

"  You  do?" 

I  could  not  repress  a  slight  toss  of  my  head. 
"  Yes,  I  do,"  I  repeated. 

He  smiled  and  made  the  slightest  of  deprecatory 
gestures. 

"  You  have  had  advantages —      "  he  began. 

"  And  disadvantages,"  I  finished,  determined 
that  he  should  award  me  my  full  meed  of  praise. 

You  are  probably  not  afraid  of  dogs.  I  am.  You 
could  visit  the  stables." 

"  And  did;  but  I  found  nothing  there." 

I  thought  not !  "  I  could  not  help  the  exclama 
tion.  It  is  so  seldom  one  can  really  triumph  over 
this  man.  '  Not  having  the  cue,  you  would  not  be 
apt  to  see  what  gives  this  whole  thing  away.  I 
would  never  have  thought  of  it  again  if  we  had  not 
had  this  talk.  Is  Mr.  Simsbury  a  neat  man  ?  " 

"  A  neat  man  ?     Madam,  what  do  you  mean  ? " 

Something  important,  Mr.  Gryce.  If  Mr.  Sims- 
bury  is  a  neat  man,  he  will  have  thrown  away  the 


LOST  MAN'S  LANE 


old  rags  which,  I  dare  promise  you,  cumbered  his 
stable  floor  the  morning  after  the  phantom  coach 
was  seen  to  ente'r  the  lane.  If  he  is  not,  you  may 
still  find  them  there.  One  of  them,  I  know,  you  will 
not  find.  He  pulled  it  off  of  his  wheel  with  his 
whip  the  afternoon  he  drove  me  down  from  the 
station.  I  can  see  the  sly  look  he  gave  me  as  he 
did  it.  It  made  no  impression  on  me  then,  but 
now  -  " 

"  Madam,  you  have  supplied  the  one  link  neces 
sary  to  the  establishment  of  this  theory.  Allow  me 
to  felicitate  you  upon  it.  But  whatever  our  satis 
faction  may  be  from  a  professional  standpoint,  we 
cannot  but  feel  the  unhappy  nature  of  the  responsi 
bility  incurred  by  these  discoveries.  If  this  seem 
ingly  respectable  family  stooped  to  such  subterfuge, 
going  to  the  length  of  winding  rags  around  the 
wheels  of  their  lumbering  old  coach  to  make  it 
noiseless,  and  even  tying  up  their  horse's  feet  for 
this  same  purpose,  they  must  have  had  a  motive 
dark  enough  to  warrant  your  worst  suspicions. 
And  William  was  not  the  only  one  involved.  Sims- 
bury,  at  least,  had  a  hand  in  it,  nor  does  it  look  as 
if  the  girls  were  as  innocent  as  we  would  like  to 
consider  them." 

"  I  cannot  stop  to  consider  the  girls,"  I  declared. 
"  I  can  no  longer  consider  the  girls." 

Nor  I,"  he  gloomily  assented.      "  Our  duty  re 
quires  us  to  sift  this  matter,  and  it  shall  be  sifted. 


FORWARD  AND  BACK 

We  must  first  find  if  any  child  alighted  from  the 
cars  at  the  Mountain  Station  on  that  especial  night, 
or,  what  is  more  probable,  from  the  little  station  at 
C.,  five  miles  farther  back  in  the  mountains." 

"  And — "  I  urged,  seeing  that  he  had  still  some 
thing  to  say. 

'  We  must  make  sure  who  lies  buried  under  the 
floor  of  the  room  you  call  the  Flower  Parlor.  You 
may  expect  me  at  the  Knollys  house  some  time  to 
day.  I  shall  come  quietly,  but  in  my  own  proper 
person.  You  are  not  to  know  me,  and,  unless  you 
desire  it,  need  not  appear  in  the  matter." 

"  I  do  not  desire  it." 

"  Then  good-morning,  Miss  Butterworth.  My 
respect  for  your  abilities  has  risen  even  higher  than 
before.  We  part  in  a  similar  frame  of  mind  for 
once." 

And  this  he  expected  me  to  regard  as  a  compli 
ment. 


XXVII 

THE   TEXT   WITNESSETH 

[HAVE  a  grim  will  when  I  choose  to  exert  it. 
After  Mr.  Gryce  left  the  hotel,  I  took  a  cup  of 
tea  with  the  landlady  and  then  made  a  round  of  the 
stores.  I  bought  dimity,  sewing  silk,  and  what  not, 
as  I  said  I  would,  but  this  did  not  occupy  me  long 
(to  the  regret  probably  of  the  country  merchants, 
who  expected  to  make  a  fool  of  me  and  found  it  a 
by  no  means  easy  task),  and  was  quite  ready  for 
William  when  he  finally  drove  up. 

The  ride  home  was  a  more  or  less  silent  one.  I 
had  conceived  such  a  horror  of  the  man  beside  me, 
that  talking  for  talk's  sake  was  impossible,  while  he 
was  in  a  mood  which  it  would  be  charity  to  call 
non-communicative.  It  may  be  that  my  own  reti 
cence  was  at  the  bottom  of  this,  but  I  rather  think 
not.  The  remark  he  made  in  passing  Deacon  Spear's 
house  showed  that  something  more  than  spite  was 
working  in  his  slow  but  vindictive  brain. 

'  There  's  a  man  of  your  own  sort,"   he  cried. 

You  won't  find  him  doing  anything  out  of  the 
way;  oh,  no.  Pity  your  visit  was  n't  paid  there. 
You  'd  have  got  a  better  impression  of  the  lane/' 

258 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  259 

To  this  I  made  no  reply. 

At  Mr.  Trohm's  he  spoke  again: 

"  I  suppose  that  you  and  Trohm  had  the  devil  of 
a  say  about  Lucetta  and  the  rest  of  us.  I  don't 
know  why,  but  the  whole  neighborhood  seems  to 
feel  they  've  a  right  to  use  our  name  as  they  choose. 
But  it  is  n't  going  to  be  so,  long.  We  have  played 
poor  and  pinched  and  starved  all  I  'm  going  to. 
I  'm  going  to  have  a  new  horse,  and  Lucetta  shall 
have  a  dress,  and  that  mighty  quick  too.  I  'm 
tired  of  all  this  shabbiness,  and  mean  to  have  a 
change." 

I  wanted  to  say,*'  No  change  yet;  change  under 
the  present  circumstances  would  be  the  worst  thing 
possible  for  you  all,"  but  I  felt  that  this  would  be 
treason  to  Mr.  Gryce,  and  refrained,  saying  simply, 
as  he  looked  sideways  at  me  for  a  word : 

Lucetta  needs  a  new  dress.  That  no  one  can 
deny.  But  you  had  better  let  me  get  it  for  her,  or 
perhaps  that  is  what  you  mean." 

The  grunt  which  was  my  only  answer  might  be 
interpreted  in  any  way.  I  took  it,  however,  for 
assent. 

As  soon  as  I  was  relieved  of  his  presence  and 
found  myself  again  with  the  girls,  I  altered  my 
whole  manner  and  cried  out  in  querulous  tones: 

Mrs.  Carter  and  I  have  had  a  difference." 
(This  was  true.  We  did  have  a  difference  over  our 
cup  of  tea.  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  say  this 


260  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

difference  was  a  forced  one.  Some  things  we  are 
perfectly  justified  in  keeping  to  ourselves.)  "  She 
remembers  a  certain  verse  in  the  New  Testament 
one  way  and  I  in  another.  We  had  not  time  to 
settle  it  by  a  consultation  with  the  sacred  word,  but 
I  cannot  rest  till  it  is  settled,  so  will  you  bring  your 
Bible  to  me,  my  dear,  that  I  may  look  that  verse 
up  ?  " 

We  were  in  the  upper  hall,  where  I  had  taken  a 
seat  on  the  old-fashioned  sofa  there.  Lucetta,  who 
was  standing  before  me,  started  immediately  to  do 
my  bidding,  without  stopping  to  think,  poor  child, 
that  it  was  very  strange  I  did  not  go  to  my  own 
room  and  consult  my  own  Bible  as  any  good  Presby 
terian  would  be  expected  to  do.  As  she  was  turning 
toward  the  large  front  room  I  stopped  her  with  the 
quiet  injunction : 

"  Get  me  one  with  good  print,  Lucetta.  My  eyes 
won't  bear  much  straining." 

At  which  she  turned  and  to  my  great  relief  hi  ,rried 
down  the  corridor  toward  William's  room,  from 
which  she  presently  returned,  bringing  the  very 
volume  I  was  anxious  to  consult. 

Meanwhile  I  had  laid  aside  my  hat.  I  felt  flurried 
and  unhappy,  and  showed  it.  Lucetta's  pitiful  face 
had  a  strange  sweetness  in  it  this  morning,  and  1 
felt  sure  as  I  took  the  sacred  book  from  her  hand 
that  her  thoughts  were  all  with  the  lover  she  had 
sent  from  her  side  and  not  at  all  with  me  or  with 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  26 1 

what  at  the  moment  occupied  me.  Yet  my  thoughts 
at  this  moment  involved,  without  doubt,  the  very 
deepest  interests  of  her  life,  if  not  that  very  lover 
she  was  brooding  over  in  her  darkened  and  resigned 
mind.  As  I  realized  this  I  heaved  an  involuntary 
sigh,  which  seemed  to  startle  her,  for  she  turned 
and  gave  me  a  quick  look  as  she  was  slipping  away 
to  join  her  sister,  who  was  busy  at  the  other  end  of 
the  hall. 

The  Bible  I  held  was  an  old  one,  of  medium  size 
and  most  excellent  print.  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
finding  the  text  and  settling  the  question  which 
had  been  my  ostensible  reason  for  wanting  the  book, 
but  it  took  me  longer  to  discover  the  indentation 
which  I  had  made  in  one  of  its  pages;  but  when  I 
did,  you  may  imagine  my  awe  and  the  turmoil  into 
which  my  mind  was  cast,  when  I  found  that  it 
marked  those  great  verses  in  Corinthians  which  are 
so  universally  read  at  funerals : 

"  Behold  I  shew  you  a  mystery.  We  shall  not 
all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed. 

"  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye — 


XXVIII 

AN   INTRUSION 

I  WAS  so  moved  by  this  discovery  that  I  was  not 
myself  for  several  moments. 

The  reading  of  these  words  over  the  body  which 
had  been  laid  away  under  the  Flower  Parlor  was  in 
keeping  with  the  knot  of  crape  on  the  window-shut 
ter  and  argued  something  more  than  remorse  on  the 
part  of  some  one  of  the  Knollys  family.  Who  was 
this  one,  and  why,  with  such  feelings  in  the  breast  of 
any  of  the  three,  had  the  deceit  and  crime  to  which 
I  had  been  witness  succeeded  to  such  a  point  as  to 
demand  the  attention  of  the  police  ?  An  impossible 
problem  of  which  I  dared  seek  no  solution,  even  in 
the  faces  of  these  seemingly  innocent  girls. 

I  was,  of  course,  in  no  position  to  determine  what 
plan  Mr.  Gryce  intended  to  pursue.  I  only  knew 
what  course  I  myself  meant  to  follow,  which  was  to 
remain  quiet  and  sustain  the  part  I  had  already 
played  in  this  house  as  visitor  and  friend.  It  was 
therefore  as  such  both  in  heart  and  manner  that  I 
hastened  from  my  room  late  in  the  afternoon  to  in 
quire  the  meaning  of  the  cry  I  had  just  heard  issue 

262 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  26$ 

from  Lucetta's  lips.  It  had  come  from  the  front  of 
the  house,  and,  as  I  hastened  thither,  I  met  the  two 
Misses  Knollys,  looking  more  openly  anxious  and 
distraught  than  at  any  former  time  of  anxiety  and 
trouble. 

As  they  looked  up  and  saw  my  face,  Loreen 
paused  and  laid  her  hand  on  Lucetta's  arm.  But 
Lucetta  was  not  to  be  restrained. 

'  He  has  dared  to  enter  our  gates,  bringing  a 
police  officer  with  him,"  was  her  hoarse  and  almost 
unintelligible  cry.  '  We  know  that  the  man  with 
him  is  a  police  officer  because  he  was  here  once  be 
fore,  and  though  he  was  kind  enough  then,  he  can 
not  have  come  the  second  time  except  to " 

Here  the  pressure  of  Loreen'shand  was  so  strong 
as  to  make  the  feeble  Lucetta  quiver.  She  stopped, 
and  Miss  Knollys  took  up  her  words: 

"  Except  to  make  us  talk  on  subjects  much  better 
buried  in  oblivion.  Miss  Butterworth,  will  you  go 
down  with  us  ?  Your  presence  may  act  as  a  restraint. 
Mr.  Trohm  seems  to  have  some  respect  for  you." 

"  Mr.  Trohm  ?" 

Yes.  It  is  his  coming  which  has  so  agitated 
Lucetta.  He  and  a  man  named  Gryce  are  just 
coming  up  the  walk.  There  goes  the  knocker. 
Lucetta,  you  must  control  yourself  or  leave  me  to 
face  these  unwelcome  visitors  alone." 

Lucetta,  with  a  sudden  fierce  effort,  subdued  her 
trembling. 


264  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

If  he  must  be  met,"  said  she,  *'*  my  anger  and 
disdain  may  give  some  weight  to  your  quiet  accept 
ance  of  the  family's  disgrace.  I  shall  not  accept  his 
denunciations  quietly,  Loreen.  You  must  expect 
me  to  show  some  of  the  feelings  that  I  have  held  in 
check  all  these  years."  And  without  waiting  for 
reply,  without  waiting  even  to  see  what  effect  these 
strange  words  might  have  upon  me,  she  dashed 
down  the  stairs  and  pulled  open  the  front  door. 

We  had  followed  rapidly,  too  rapidly  for  speech 
ourselves,  and  were  therefore  in  the  hall  when  the 
door  swung  back,  revealing  the  two  persons  I  had 
been  led  to  expect.  Mr.  Trohm  spoke  first,  evi 
dently  in  answer  to  the  defiance  to  be  seen  in 
Lucetta's  face. 

"  Miss  Knollys,  a  thousand  pardons.  I  know  I 
am  transgressing,  but,  I  assure  you,  the  occasion 
warrants  it.  I  am  certain  you  will  acknowledge 
this  when  you  hear  what  my  errand  is." 

Your  errand  ?  What  can  your  errand  be  but 
to " 

Why  did  she  pause  ?  Mr.  Gryce  had  not  looked 
at  her.  Yet  that  it  was  under  his  influence  she 
ceased  to  commit  herself  I  am  as  convinced  as  we 
can  be  of  anything  in  a  world  which  is  half  deceit. 

"  Let  us  hear  your  errand,"  put  in  Loreen,  with 
that  gentle  emphasis  which  is  no  sign  of  weakness. 

I  will  let  this  gentleman  speak  for  me, "  returned 
Mr.  Trohm.  "  You  have  seen  him  before — a  New 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  26$ 

York  detective  of  whose  business  in  this  town  you 
cannot  be  ignorant." 

Lucetta  turned  a  cold  eye  upon  Mr.  Gryce  and 
quietly  remarked  : 

"  When  he  visited  this  lane  a  few  days  ago,  he 
professed  to  be  seeking  a  clue  to  the  many  disap 
pearances  which  have  unfortunately  taken  place 
within  its  precincts." 

Mr.  Trohm's  nod  was  one  of  acquiescence.  But 
Lucetta  was  still  looking  at  the  detective. 

"  Is  that  your  business  now  ?  "  she  asked,  appeal 
ing  directly  to  Mr.  Gryce. 

His  fatherly  accents  when  he  answered  her  were  a 
great  relief  after  the  alternate  iciness  and  fire  with 
which  she  had  addressed  his  companion  and  him 
self. 

"  I  hardly  know  how  to  reply  without  arousing 
your  just  anger.  If  your  brother  is  in — 

'  My  brother  would  face  you  with  less  patience 
than  we.  Tell  us  your  errand,  Mr.  Gryce,  and  do 
not  think  of  calling  in  my  brother  till  we  have  failed 
to  answer  your  questions  or  satisfy  your  demands." 
Very  well,"  said  he.  '  The  quickest  explana 
tion  is  the  kindest  in  these  cases.  I  merely  wish,  as 
a  police  officer  whose  business  it  is  to  locate  the  dis 
appearances  which  have  made  this  lane  notorious, 
and  who  believes  the  surest  way  to  do  this  is  to  find 
out  once  and  for  all  where  they  did  not  and  could 
not  have  taken  place,  to  make  an  official  search 


266  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

of  these  premises  as  I  already  have  those  of  Mother 
Jane  and  of  Deacon  Spear." 

And  my  errand  here,"  interposed  Mr.  Trohm, 
"  is  to  make  everything  easier  by  the  assurance  that 
my  house  will  be  the  next  to  undergo  a  complete 
investigation.  As  all  the  houses  in  the  lane  will  be 
visited  alike,  none  of  us  need  complain  or  feel  our 
good  name  attacked." 

This  was  certainly  thoughtful  of  him,  but  know 
ing  how  much  they  had  to  fear,  I  could  not  expect 
Loreen  or  Lucetta  to  show  any  great  sense  either  of 
his  kindness  or  Mr.  Gryce's  consideration.  They 
were  in  no  position  to  have  a  search  made  of  their 
premises,  and,  serene  as  was  Loreen's  nature  and 
powerful  as  was  Lucetta's  will,  the  apprehension 
under  which  they  labored  was  evident  to  us  all, 
though  neither  of  them  attempted  either  subterfuge 
or  evasion. 

"  If  the  police  wish  to  search  this  house,  it  is 
open  to  them,"  said  Loreen. 

'  But  not  to  Mr.  Trohm,"  quoth  Lucetta, 
quickly.  "  Our  poverty  should  be  our  protection 
from  the  curiosity  of  neighbors." 

:<  Mr.  Trohm  has  no  wish  to  intrude,"  was  Mr. 
Gryce's  conciliatory  remark;  but  Mr.  Trohm  said 
nothing.  He  probably  understood  why  Lucetta 
wished  to  curtail  his  stay  in  this  house  better  than 
Mr.  Gryce  did. 


XXIX 

IN  THE   CELLAR 

1HAD  meanwhile  stood  silent.  There  was  no 
reason  for  me  to  obtrude  myself,  and  I  was 
happy  not  to  do  so.  This  does  not  mean,  however, 
that  my  presence  was  not  noticed.  Mr.  Trohm 
honored  me  with  more  than  one  glance  during  these 
trying  moments,  in  which  I  read  the  anxiety  he  felt 
lest  my  peace  of  mind  should  be  too  much  dis 
turbed,  and  when,  in  response  to  the  undoubted 
dismissal  he  had  received  from  Lucetta,  he  prepared 
to  take  his  leave,  it  was  upon  me  he  bestowed  his 
final  look  and  most  deferential  bow.  It  was  a 
tribute  to  my  position  and  character  which  all 
seemed  to  feel,  and  I  was  not  at  all  surprised  when 
Lucetta,  after  carefully  watching  his  departure, 
turned  to  me  with  childlike  impetuosity,  saying: 

This  must  be  very  unpleasant  for  you,  Miss 
Butterworth,  yet  must  we  ask  you  to  stand  our 
friend.  God  knows  we  need  one." 

"  I  shall  never  forget  I  occupied  that  position 
toward  your  mother,"  was  my  straightforward 
reply,  and  I  did  not  forget  it,  not  for  a  moment. 

267 


268  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  I  shall  begin  with  the  cellar,"  Mr.  Gryce  an 
nounced. 

Both  girls  quivered.  Then  Loreen  lifted  her 
proud  head  and  said  quietly : 

'  The  whole  house  is  at  your  disposal.  Only  I 
pray  you  to  be  as  expeditious  as  possible.  My 
sister  is  not  well,  and  the  sooner  our  humiliation  is 
over,  the  better  it  will  be  for  her." 

And,  indeed,  Lucetta  was  in  a  state  that  aroused 
even  Mr.  Gryce's  anxiety.  But  when  she  saw  us 
all  hovering  over  her  she  roused  herself  with  an  ex 
traordinary  effort,  and,  waving  us  aside,  led  the  way 
to  the  kitchen,  from  which,  as  I  gathered,  the  only 
direct  access  could  be  had  to  the  cellar.  Mr.  Gryce 
immediately  followed,  and  behind  him  came  Loreen 
and  myself,  both  too  much  agitated  to  speak.  At 
the  Flower  Parlor  Mr.  Gryce  paused  as  if  he  had 
forgotten  something,  but  Lucetta  urged  him  fever 
ishly  on,  and  before  long  we  were  all  standing  in 
the  kitchen.  Here  a  surprise  awaited  us.  Two 
men  were  sitting  there  who  appeared  to  be  strangers 
to  Hannah,  from  the  lowering  looks  she  cast  them 
as  she  pretended  to  be  busy  over  her  stove.  This 
was  so  out  of  keeping  with  her  usual  good  humor 
as  to  attract  the  attention  even  of  her  young  mistress. 

'  What  is  the  matter,  Hannah  ?  "  asked  Lucetta. 
"  And  who  are  these  men  ?  " 

'  They  are  my  men,"  said  Mr.  Gryce.  '  The 
job  I  have  undertaken  cannot  be  carried  on  alone." 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  269 

The  quick  look  the  two  sisters  interchanged  did 
not  escape  me,  or  the  quiet  air  of  resignation  which 
was  settling  slowly  over  Loreen. 

"  Must  they  go  into  the  cellar  too  ?  "  she  asked. 

Mr.  Gryce  smiled  his  most  fatherly  smile  as  he 
said: 

My  dear  young  ladies,  these  men  are  interested 
in  but  one  thing;  they  are  searching  for  a  clue  to 
the  disappearances  that  have  occurred  in  this  lane. 
As  they  will  not  find  this  in  your  cellar,  nothing 
else  that  they  may  see  there  will  remain  in  their 
minds  for  a  moment." 

Lucetta  said  no  more.  Even  her  indomitable 
spirit  was  giving  way  before  the  inevitable  discovery 
that  threatened  them. 

'  Do  not  let  William  know,"  were  the  low  words 
with  which  she  passed  Hannah;  but  from  the  short 
glimpse  I  caught  of  William's  burly  figure  standing 
in  the  stable  door,  under  the  guardianship  of  two 
detectives,  I  felt  this  injunction  to  be  quite  super 
fluous.  William  evidently  did  know. 

I  was  not  going  to  descend  the  cellar  stairs,  but 
the  girls  made  me. 

"  We  want  you  with  us,"  Loreen  declared  in  no 
ordinary  tones,  while  Lucetta  paused  and  would  not 
go  on  till  I  followed.  This  surprised  me.  I  no 
longer  seemed  to  have  any  clue  to  their  motives; 
but  I  was  glad  to  be  one  of  the  party. 

Hannah,    under    Loreen's  orders,  had    furnished 


2/0  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

one  of  the  men  with  a  lighted  lantern,  and  upon 
our  descent  into  the  dark  labyrinth  below,  it  be 
came  his  duty  to  lead  the  way,  which  he  did  with 
due  circumspection.  What  all  this  underground 
space  into  which  we  were  thus  introduced  had  ever 
been  used  for,  it  would  be  difficult  to  tell.  At 
present  it  was  mostly  empty.  After  passing  a 
small  collection  of  stores,  a  wine-cellar,  the  very 
door  of  which  was  unhinged  and  lay  across  the  cellar 
bottom,  we  struck  into  a  hollow  void,  in  which 
there  was  nothing  worth  an  instant's  investigation 
save  the  earth  under  our  feet. 

This  the  two  foremost  detectives  examined  very 
carefully,  detaining  us  often  longer,  I  thought,  than 
Mr.  Gryce  desired  or  Lucetta  had  patience  for. 
But  nothing  was  said  in  protest  nor  did  the  older 
detective  give  an  order  or  manifest  any  special  in 
terest  in  the  investigation  till  he  saw  the  men  in 
front  stoop  and  throw  out  of  the  way  a  coil  of  rope, 
when  he  immediately  hurried  forward  and  called 
upon  the  party  to  stop. 

The  girls,  who  were  on  either  side  of  me,  crossed 
glances  at  this  command,  and  Lucetta,  who  had 
been  tottering  for  the  last  few  minutes,  fell  upon 
her  knees  and  hid  her  face  in  the  hollow  of  her  two 
hands.  Loreen  came  around  and  stood  by  her,  and 
I  do  not  know  which  of  them  presented  the  most 
striking  picture  of  despair,  the  shrinking  Lucetta  or 
Loreen  with  her  quivering  form  uplifted  to  meet  the 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  2J I 

shafts  of  fate  without  a  droop  of  her  eyelids  or  a 
murmur  from  her  lips.  The  light  of  the  one  lantern 
which,  intentionally  or  unintentionally,  was  concen 
trated  on  this  pathetic  group,  made  it  stand  out 
from  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  darkness  in  a  way 
to  draw  the  gaze  of  Mr.  Gryce  upon  them.  He 
looked,  and  his  own  brow  became  overcast.  Evi 
dently  we  were  not  far  from  the  cause  of  their  fears. 

Ordering  the  candle  lifted,  he  surveyed  the  ceil 
ing  above,  at  which  Loreen's  lips  opened  slightly 
in  secret  dread  and  amazement.  Then  he  com 
manded  the  men  to  move  on  slowly,  while  he  him 
self  looked  overhead  rather  than  underneath,  which 
seemed  to  astonish  his  associates,  who  evidently 
had  heard  nothing  of  the  hole  which  had  been  cut 
in  the  floor  of  the  Flower  Parlor. 

Suddenly  I  heard  a  slight  gasp  from  Lucetta, 
who  had  not  moved  forward  with  the  rest  of  us. 
Then  her  rushing  figure  flew  by  us  and  took  up  its 
stand  by  Mr.  Gryce,  who  had  himself  paused  and 
was  pointing  with  an  imperious  forefinger  to  the 
ground  under  his  feet. 

"  You  will  dig  here,"  said  he,  not  heeding  her, 
though  I  am  sure  he  was  as  well  acquainted  with 
her  proximity  as  we. 

"  Dig  ?  "  repeated  Loreen,  in  what  we  all  saw  was 
a  final  effort  to  stave  off  disgrace  and  misery. 

My  duty  demands  it,"  said  he.      "  Some  one 
else  has  been  digging  here  within  a  very  few  days, 


2/2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Miss  Knollys.  That  is  as  evident  as  is  the  fact  that 
a  communication  has  been  made  with  this  place 
through  an  opening  into  the  room  above.  See!" 
And  taking  the  lantern  from  the  man  at  his  side,  he 
held  it  up  toward  the  ceiling. 

There  was  no  hole  there  now,  but  there  were 
ample  evidences  of  there  having  been  one,  and  that 
within  a  very  short  time.  Loreen  made  no  further 
attempt  to  stay  him. 

'  The  house  is  at  your  disposal,"  she  reiterated, 
but  I  do  not  think  she  knew  what  she  said.  The 
man  with  the  bundle  in  his  arms  was  already  unroll 
ing  it  on  the  cellar  bottom.  A  spade  came  to  light, 
together  with  some  other  tools.  Lifting  the  spade, 
he  thrust  it  smartly  into  the  ground  toward  which 
Mr.  Gryce's  inexorable  finger  still  pointed.  At  the 
sight  and  the  sound  it  made,  a  thrill  passed  through 
Lucetta  which  made  her  another  creature.  Dashing 
forward,  she  flung  herself  down  upon  the  spot  with 
lifted  head  and  outstretched  arms. 

"  Stop  your  desecrating  hand  !  "  she  cried.  '  This 
is  a  grave — the  grave,  sirs,  of  our  mother!  " 


XXX 

INVESTIGATION 

THE  shock  of  these  words — if  false,  most  horrible ; 
if  true,  still  more  horrible — threw  us  all  aback 
and  made  even  Mr.  Gryce's  features  assume  an  as 
pect  quite  uncommon  to  them. 

"  Your  mother's  grave  ?  "  said  he,  looking  from 
her  to  Loreen  with  very  evident  doubt.  ;<  I 
thought  your  mother  died  seven  or  more  years  ago, 
and  this  grave  has  been  dug  within  three  days." 

I  know,"  she  whispered.  '  To  the  world  my 
mother  has  been  dead  many,  many  years,  but  not 
to  us.  We  closed  her  eyes  night  before  last,  and  it 
was  to  preserve  this  secret,  which  involves  others 
affecting  our  family  honor,  that  we  resorted  to  ex 
pedients  which  have  perhaps  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  police  and  drawn  this  humiliation  down  upon 
us.  I  can  conceive  no  other  reason  for  this  visit, 
ushered  in  as  it  was  by  Mr.  Trohm." 

"  Miss  Lucetta" —  Mr.  Gryce  spoke  quickly;  if  he 

had  not  I  certainly  could  not  have  restrained  some 

expression  of  the    emotions  awakened  in  my  own 

breast  by  this  astounding  revelation — "  Miss  Lu- 

18  273 


274  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

cetta,  it  is  not  necessary  to  bring  Mr.  Trohm's  name 
into  this  matter  or  that  of  any  other  person  than 
myself.  I  saw  the  coffin  lowered  here,  which  you 
say  contained  the  body  of  your  mother.  Thinking 
this  a  strange  place  of  burial  and  not  knowing  it  was 
your  mother  to  whom  you  were  paying  these  last 
dutiful  rites,  I  took  advantage  of  my  position  as 
detective  to  satisfy  myself  that  nothing  wrong  lay 
behind  so  mysterious  a  death  and  burial.  Can  you 
blame  me,  Miss  ?  Would  I  have  been  a  man  to 
trust  if  I  had  let  such  an  event  as  this  go  by  un 
challenged  ?" 

She  did  not  answer.  She  had  heard  but  one 
sentence  of  all  this  long  speech. 

'  You  saw  my  mother's  coffin  lowered  ?  Where 
were  you  that  you  should  see  that  ?  In  some  of 
these  dark  passages,  let  in  by  I  know  not  what 
traitor  to  our  peace  of  mind."  And  her  eyes,  which 
seemed  to  have  grown  almost  supernaturally  large 
and  bright  under  her  emotions,  turned  slowly  in 
their  sockets  till  they  rested  with  something  like 
doubtful  accusation  upon  mine.  But  not  to  remain 
there,  for  Mr.  Gryce  recalled  them  almost  instantly 
by  this  short,  sharp  negative. 

"  No,  I  was  nearer  than  that.  I  lent  my  strength 
to  this  burial.  If  you  had  thought  to  look  under 
Mother  Jane's  hood,  you  would  have  seen  what 
would  have  forced  these  explanations  then  and 
there." 


FORWARD  AND   BACK  2/5 

"  And  you — 

"  I  was  Mother  Jane  for  the  nonce.  Not  from 
choice,  Miss,  but  from  necessity.  I  was  impersonat 
ing  the  old  woman  when  your  brother  came  to  the 
cottage.  I  could  not  give  away  my  plans  by  refus 
ing  the  task  your  brother  offered  me." 

It  is  well."  Lucetta  had  risen  and  was  now 
standing  by  the  side  of  Loreen.  "  Such  a  secret  as 
ours  defies  concealment.  Even  Providence  takes 
part  against  us.  What  you  want  to  know  we  must 
tell,  but  I  assure  you  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
business  you  profess  to  be  chiefly  interested  in — 
nothing  at  all." 

Then  perhaps  you  and  your  sister  will  retire," 
said  he.  "  Distracted  as  you  are  by  family  griefs,  I 
would  not  wish  to  add  one  iota  to  your  distress. 
This  lady,  whom  you  seem  to  regard  with  more  or 
less  favor  as  friend  or  relative,  will  stay  to  see  that 
no  dishonor  is  paid  to  your  mother's  remains.  But 
your  mother's  face  we  must  see,  Miss  Lucetta,  if 
only  to  lighten  the  explanations  you  will  doubtless 
feel  called  upon  to  make." 

It  was  Loreen  who  answered  this. 

If  it  must  be,"  said  she,  "  remember  your  own 
mother  and  deal  reverently  with  ours."  Which  en 
treaty  and  the  way  it  was  uttered,  gave  me  my  first 
distinct  conviction  that  these  girls  were  speaking  the 
truth,  and  that  the  diminutive  body  we  had  come 
to  unearth  was  that  of  Althea  Knollys,  whose  fairy- 


2/6  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

like  form  I  had  so  long  supposed  commingled  with 
foreign  soil. 

The  thought  was  almost  too  much  for  my  self- 
possession,  and  I  advanced  upon  Loreen  with  a 
dozen  burning  questions  on  my  lips  when  the  voice 
of  Mr.  Gryce  stopped  me. 

"  Explanations  later,"  said  he.  "  For  the  present 
we  want  you  here." 

It  was  no  easy  task  for  me  to  linger  there  with  all 
my  doubts  unsolved,  waiting  for  the  decisive  mo 
ment  when  Mr.  Gryce  should  say:  "  Come!  Look! 
Is  it  she  ?  "  But  the  will  that  had  already  sustained 
me  through  so  many  trying  experiences  did  not  fail 
me  now,  and,  grievous  as  was  the  ordeal,  I  passed 
steadily  through  it,  being  able  to  say,  though  not 
without  some  emotion,  I  own:  '  It  is  Althea 
Knollys!  Changed  almost  beyond  conception,  but 
still  these  girls'  mother!  "  which  was  a  happier  end 
to  this  adventure  than  that  we  had  first  feared, 
mysterious  as  the  event  was,  not  only  to  myself, 
but,  as  I  could  see,  to  the  acute  detective  as  well. 

The  girls  had  withdrawn  long  before  this,  just  as 
Mr.  Gryce  had  desired,  and  I  now  expected  to  be 
allowed  to  join  them,  but  Mr.  Gryce  detained  me  till 
the  grave  was  refilled  and  made  decent  again,  when 
he  turned  and  to  my  intense  astonishment — for  I  had 
thought  the  matter  was  all  over  and  the  exoneration 
of  this  household  complete — said  softly  and  with 
telling  emphasis  in  my  ear: 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  2JJ 

"  Our  work  is  not  done  yet.  They  who  make 
graves  so  readily  in  cellars  must  have  been  more  or 
less  accustomed  to  the  work.  We  have  still  some 
digging  to  do." 


XXXI 

STRATEGY 

1WAS  overwhelmed. 
"  What,"  said  I,  "  you  still  doubt  ?" 

"  I  always  doubt,"  he  gravely  replied.  "  This 
cellar  bottom  offers  a  wide  field  for  speculation. 
Too  wide,  perhaps,  but,  then,  I  have  a  plan." 

Here  he  leaned  over  and  whispered  a  few  concise 
sentences  into  my  ear  in  a  tone  so  low  I  should  feel 
that  I  was  betraying  his  confidence  in  repeating 
them.  But  their  import  will  soon  become  apparent 
from  what  presently  occurred. 

"  Light  Miss  Butterworth  to  the  stairway,"  Mr. 
Gryce  now  commanded  one  of  the  men,  and  thus 
accompanied  I  found  my  way  back  to  the  kitchen, 
where  Hannah  was  bemoaning  uncomforted  the 
shame  which  had  come  upon  the  house. 

I  did  not  stop  to  soothe  her.  That  was  not  my 
cue,  nor  would  it  have  answered  my  purpose.  On 
the  contrary,  I  broke  into  angry  ejaculations  as  I 
passed  her: 

'  What  a  shame !  Those  wretches  cannot  be  got 
away  from  the  cellar.  What  do  you  suppose  they 

278 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  279 

expect  to  find  there  ?  I  left  them  poking  hither 
and  thither  in  a  way  that  will  be  very  irritating  to 
Miss  Knollys  when  she  finds  it  out.  I  wonder  Wil 
liam  stands  it." 

What  she  said  in  reply  I  do  not  know.  I  was  half 
way  down  the  hall  before  my  own  words  were 
finished. 

My  next  move  was  to  go  to  my  room  and  take 
from  my  trunk  a  tiny  hammer  and  some  very  small, 
sharp-pointed  tacks.  Curious  articles,  you  will 
think,  for  a  woman  to  carry  on  her  travels,  but  I  am 
a  woman  of  experience,  and  have  known  only  too 
often  what  it  was  to  want  these  petty  conveniences 
and  not  be  able  to  get  them.  They  were  to  serve 
me  an  odd  turn  now.  Taking  a  half-dozen  tacks  in 
one  hand  and  concealing  the  hammer  in  my  bag,  I 
started  boldly  for  William's  room.  I  knew  that  the 
girls  were  not  there,  for  I  had  heard  them  talking 
together  in  the  sitting-room  as  I  came  up.  Besides, 
if  they  were,  I  had  a  ready  answer  for  any  demand 
they  might  make. 

Searching  out  his  boots,  I  turned  them  over,  and 
into  the  sole  of  each  I  drove  one  of  my  small  tacks. 
Then  I  put  them  back  in  the  same  place  and  posi 
tion  in  which  I  found  them.  Task  number  one  was 
accomplished. 

When  I  issued  from  the  room,  I  went  as  quickly 
as  I  could  below.  I  was  now  ready  for  a  talk 
with  the  girls,  whom  I  found  as  I  had  anticipated, 


28O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

talking    and    weeping     together     in     the     sitting- 
room. 

They  rose  as  I  came  in,  awaiting  my  first  words 
in  evident  anxiety.  They  had  not  heard  me  go 
up-stairs.  I  immediately  allowed  my  anxiety  and 
profound  interest  in  this  matter  to  have  full  play. 

My  poor  girls!  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ? 
Your  mother  just  dead,  and  the  matter  kept  from 
me,  her  friend  !  It  is  astounding — incomprehensible ! 
I  do  not  know  what  to  make  of  it  or  of  you." 

"It  has  a  strange  look,"  Loreen  gravely  ad 
mitted;  "  but  we  had  reasons  for  this  deception, 
Miss  Butterworth.  Our  mother,  charming  and 
sweet  as  you  remember  her,  has  not  always  done 
right,  or,  what  you  will  better  understand,  she  com 
mitted  a  criminal  act  against  a  person  in  this  town, 
the  penalty  of  which  is  state's  prison." 

With  difficulty  the  words  came  out.  With  diffi 
culty  she  kept  down  the  flush  of  shame  which 
threatened  to  overwhelm  her  and  did  overwhelm 
her  more  sensitive  sister.  But  her  self-control  was 
great,  and  she  went  bravely  on,  while  I,  in  faint 
imitation  of  her  courage,  restrained  my  own  surprise 
and  intolerable  sense  of  shock  and  bitter  sorrow 
under  a  guise  of  simple  sympathy. 

"  It  was  forgery,"  she  explained.  '  This  has 
never  before  passed  our  lips.  Though  a  cherished 
wife  and  a  beloved  mother,  she  longed  for  many 
things  my  father  could  not  give  her,  and  in  an  evil 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  28 1 

hour  she  imitated  the  name  of  a  rich  man  here  and 
took  the  check  thus  signed  to  New  York.  The 
fraud  was  not  detected,  and  she  received  the  money, 
but  ultimately  the  rich  man  whose  money  she  had 
spent,  discovered  the  use  she  had  made  of  his  name, 
and,  if  she  had  not  escaped,  would  have  had  her 
arrested.  But  she  left  the  country,  and  the  only 
revenge  he  took,  was  to  swear  that  if  she  ever  set 
foot  again  in  X.,  he  would  call  the  police  down 
upon  her.  Yes,  if  she  were  dying,  and  they  had  to 
drag  her  from  the  brink  of  the  grave.  And  he 
would  have  done  it ;  and  knowing  this,  we  have 
lived  under  the  shadow  of  this  fear  for  eleven  years. 
My  father  died  under  it,  and  my  mother — ah,  she 
spent  all  the  remaining  years  of  her  life  under  foreign 
skies,  but  when  she  felt  the  hand  of  death  upon  her, 
her  .affection  for  her  own  flesh  and  blood  triumphed 
over  her  discretion,  and  she  came,  secretly,  I  own, 
but  still  with  that  horror  menacing  her,  to  these 
doors,  and  begging  our  forgiveness,  lay  down  under 
the  roof  where  we  were  born,  and  died  with  the  halo 
of  our  love  about  her." 

"  Ah,"  said  I,  thinking  of  all  that  had  happened 
since  I  had  come  into  this  house  and  finding  nothing 
but  confirmation  of  what  she  was  saying,  "  I  begin 
to  understand." 

But  Lucetta  shook  her  head. 

"No,"  said  she,  "you  cannot  understand  yet.  We 
who  had  worn  mourning  for  her  because  my  father 


282  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

wished  to  make  this  very  return  impossible,  knew 
nothing  of  what  was  in  store  for  us  till  a  letter  came 
saying  she  would  be  at  the  C.  station  on  the  very 
night  we  received  it.  To  acknowledge  our  decep 
tion,  to  seek  and  bring  her  home  openly  to  this 
house,  could  not  be  thought  of  for  a  moment. 
How,  then,  could  we  satisfy  her  dying  wishes  with 
out  compromising  her  memory  and  ourselves  ?  Per 
haps  you  have  guessed,  Miss  Butterworth.  You 
have  had  time  since  we  revealed  the  unhappy  secret 
of  this  household." 

'  Yes,"  said  I.      "I  have  guessed." 

Lucetta,  with  her  hand  laid  on  mine,  looked  wist 
fully  into  my  face. 

"  Don't  blame  us!"  she  cried.  "  Our  mother's 
good  name  is  everything  to  us,  and  we  knew  no 
other  way  to  preserve  it  than  by  making  use  of  the 
one  superstition  of  this  place.  Alas!  our  efforts 
were  in  vain.  The  phantom  coach  brought  our 
mother  safely  to  us,  but  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  our  doors  being  opened  to  outsiders,  rendered 
it  impossible  for  us  to  carry  out  our  plans  unsus 
pected.  Her  grave  has  been  discovered  and  dese 
crated,  and  we " 

She  stopped,  choked.  Loreen  took  advantage  of 
her  silence  to  pursue  the  explanations  she  seemed  to 
think  necessary. 

It  was  Simsbury  who  undertook  to  bring  our 
dying  mother  from  C.  station  to  our  door.      He  has 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  283 

a  crafty  spirit  under  his  meek  ways,  and  dressed 
himself  in  a  way  to  lend  color  to  the  superstition  he 
hoped  to  awaken.  William,  who  did  not  dare  to 
accompany  him  for  fear  of  arousing  gossip,  was  at 
the  gate  when  the  coach  drove  in.  It  was  he  who 
lifted  our  mother  out,  and  it  was  while  she  still 
clung  to  him  with  her  face  pressed  close  to  his  breast 
that  we  saw  her  first.  Ah !  what  a  pitiable  sight  it 
was!  She  was  so  wan,  so  feeble,  and  yet  so  radi 
antly  happy. 

"  She  looked  up  at  Lucetta,  and  her  face  grew 
wonderful  in  its  unearthly  beauty.  She  was  not 
the  mother  we  remembered,  but  a  mother  whose 
life  had  culminated  in  the  one  desire  to  see  and 
clasp  her  children  again.  When  she  could  tear 
her  eyes  away  from  Lucetta,  she  looked  at  me,  and 
then  the  tears  came,  and  we  all  wept  together,  even 
William ;  and  thus  weeping  and  murmuring  words 
of  welcome  and  cheer,  we  carried  her  up-stairs  and 
laid  her  in  the  great  front  chamber.  Alas!  we  did 
not  foresee  what  would  happen  the  very  next  morn 
ing — I  mean  the  arrival  of  your  telegram,  to  be 
followed  so  soon  by  yourself." 

'  Poor  girls!  Poor  girls!"  It  was  all  I  could 
say.  I  was  completely  overwhelmed. 

'  The  first  night  after  your  arrival  we  moved  her 
into  William's  room  as  being  more  remote  and  thus 
a  safer  refuge  for  her.  The  next  night  she  died. 
The  dream  which  you  had  of  being  locked  in  your 


284  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

room  was  no  dream.  Lucetta  did  that  in  foolish 
precaution  against  your  trying  to  search  us  out  in 
the  night.  It  would  have  been  better  if  we  had 
taken  you  into  our  confidence." 

'  Yes,"  I  assented,  "  that  would  have  been 
better."  But  I  did  not  say  how  much  better. 
That  would  have  been  giving  away  my  secret. 

Lucetta  had  now  recovered  sufficiently  to  go  on 
with  the  story. 

William,  who  is  naturally  colder  than  we  and 
less  sensitive  in  regard  to  our  mother's  good  name, 
has  shown  some  little  impatience  at  the  restraint  im 
posed  upon  him  by  her  presence,  and  this  was  an 
extra  burden,  Miss  Butterworth,  but  that  and  all 
the  others  we  have  been  forced  to  bear  "  (the  gener 
ous  girl  did  not  speak  of  her  own  special  grief  and 
loss)  "  have  all  been  rendered  useless  by  the  unhappy 
chance  which  has  brought  into  our  midst  this  agent 
of  the  police.  Ah,  if  I  only  knew  whether  this  was 
the  providence  of  God  rebuking  us  for  years  of 
deception,  or  just  the  malice  of  man  seeking  to  rob 
us  of  our  one  best  treasure,  a  mother's  untarnished 
name!  " 

"  Mr.  Gryce  acts  from  no  malice — "  I  began,  but 
I  saw  they  were  not  listening. 

Have  they  finished  down  below  ?"  asked  Lu 
cetta. 

Does  the  man  you  call  Gryce  seem  satisfied  ?  " 
asked  Loreen. 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  285 

I  drew  myself  up  physically  and  mentally.  My 
second  task  was  about  to  begin. 

"I  do  not  understand  those  men,"  said  I. 
"  They  seem  to  want  to  look  farther  than  the  sacred 
spot  where  we  left  them.  If  they  are  going  through 
a  form,  they  are  doing  it  very  thoroughly." 

That  is  their  duty,"  observed  Loreen,  but  Lu- 
cetta  took  it  less  calmly. 

;<  It    is   an    unhappy    day    for    us!"    cried    she. 

Shame  after  shame,  disgrace  upon  disgrace!  I 
wish  we  had  all  died  in  our  childhood.  Loreen,  I 
must  see  William.  He  will  be  doing  some  foolish 
thing,  swearing  or — 

My  dear,  let  me  go  to  William,"  I  urgently  put 
in.  "  He  may  not  like  me  overmuch,  but  I  will  at 
least  prove  a  restraint  to  him.  You  are  too  feeble. 
See,  you  ought  to  be  lying  on  the  couch  instead  of 
trying  to  drag  yourself  out  to  the  stables." 

And  indeed  at  that  moment  Lucetta's  strength 
gave  suddenly  out,  and  she  sank  into  Loreen's  arms 
insensible. 

When  she  was  restored,  I  hurried  away  to  the 
stables,  still  in  pursuit  of  the  task  which  I  had 
not  yet  completed.  I  found  William  sitting  dog 
gedly  on  a  stool  in  the  open  doorway,  grunting  out 
short  sentences  to  the  two  men  who  lounged  in  his 
vicinity  on  either  side.  He  was  angry,  but  not  as 
angry  as  I  had  seen  him  many  times  before.  The 
men  were  townsfolk  and  listened  eagerly  to  his 


286  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

broken  sentences.     One   or   two  of   these   reached 
my  ears. 

"  Let  'em  go  it.  It  won't  be  now  or  to-day 
they  '11  settle  this  business.  It  's  the  devil's  work, 
and  devils  are  sly.  My  house  won't  give  up  that 
secret,  or  any  other  house  they  '11  be  likely  to  visit. 
The  place  I  would  ransack —  But  Loreen  would  say 
I  was  babbling.  Goodness  knows  a  fellow  's  got  to 
talk  about  something  when  his  fellow-townsfolk 
come  to  see  him."  And  here  his  laugh  broke  in, 
harsh,  cruel,  and  insulting.  I  felt  it  did  him  no 
good,  and  made  haste  to  show  myself. 

Immediately  his  whole  appearance  changed.  He 
was  so  astonished  to  see  me  there  that  for  a  moment 
he  was  absolutely  silent;  then  he  broke  out  again 
into  another  loud  guffaw,  but  this  time  in  a  different 
tone. 

'  Why,  it  's  Miss  Butterworth,"  he  laughed. 
"  Here,  Saracen!  Come,  pay  your  respects  to  the 
lady  who  likes  you  so  well." 

And  Saracen  came,  but  I  did  not  forsake  my 
ground.  I  had  espied  in  one  corner  just  what  I  had 
hoped  to  see  there,  and  Saracen's  presence  afforded 
me  the  opportunity  of  indulging  in  one  or  two  rather 
curious  antics. 

"  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  dog,"  I  declared,  with 
marked  loftiness,  shrinking  toward  the  pail  of  water 
I  had  already  marked  with  my  eye.  '  Not  at  all 
afraid,"  I  continued,  catching  up  the  pail  and  put- 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  287 

ting  it  before  me  as  the  dog  made  a  wild  rush  in  my 
direction.  '  These  gentlemen  will  not  see  me 
hurt."  And  though  they  all  laughed — they  would 
have  been  fools  if  they  had  not — and  the  dog 
jumped  the  pail  and  I  jumped — not  a  pail,  but  a 
broom-handle  that  was  lying  amid  all  the  rest  of  the 
disorder  on  the  floor — they  did  not  see  that  I  had 
succeeded  in  doing  what  I  wished,  which  was  to 
place  that  pail  so  near  to  William's  feet  that —  But 
wait  a  moment ;  everything  in  its  own  time.  I  es 
caped  the  dog,  and  next  moment  had  my  eye  on 
him.  He  did  not  move  after  that,  which  rather  put 
a  stop  to  the  laughter,  which  observing,  I  drew  very 
near  to  William,  and  with  a  sly  gesture  to  the  two 
men,  which  for  some  reason  they  seemed  to  under 
stand,  whispered  in  the  rude  fellow's  ear: 

They  Ve  found  your  mother's  grave  under  the 
Flower  Parlor.  Your  sisters  told  me  to  tell  you. 
But  that  is  not  all.  They  're  trampling  hither  and 
yon  through  all  the  secret  places  in  the  cellar,  turn 
ing  up  the  earth  with  their  spades.  I  know  they 
won't  find  anything,  but  we  thought  you  ought  to 

know " 

Here  I  made  a  feint  of  being  startled,  and  ceased. 
My  second  task  was  done.  The  third  only  re 
mained.  Fortunately  at  that  moment  Mr.  Gryce 
and  his  followers  showed  themselves  in  the  garden. 
They  had  just  come  from  the  cellar  and  played  their 
part  in  the  same  spirit  I  had  mine.  Though  they 


288  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

were  too  far  off  for  their  words  to  be  heard,  the  air 
of  secrecy  they  maintained  and  the  dubious  looks 
they  cast  towards  the  stable,  could  not  but  evince 
even  to  William's  dull  understanding  that  their  in 
vestigations  had  resulted  in  a  doubt  which  left  them 
far  from  satisfied ;  but,  once  this  impression  made, 
they  did  not  linger  long  together.  The  man  with 
the  lantern  moved  off,  and  Mr.  Gryce  turned  towards 
us,  changing  his  whole  appearance  as  he  advanced, 
till  no  one  could  look  more  cheerful  and  good- 
humored. 

'  Well,  that  is  over,"  he  sighed,  with  a  forced  air 
of  infinite  relief.  '  Mere  form,  Mr.  Knollys — mere 
form.  We  have  to  go  through  these  pretended  in 
vestigations  at  times,  and  good  people  like  yourself 
have  to  submit;  but  I  assure  you  it  is  not  pleasant, 
and  under  the  present  circumstances — I  am  sure  you 
understand  me,  Mr.  Knollys — the  task  has  occa 
sioned  me  a  feeling  almost  of  remorse;  but  that  is 
inseparable  from  a  detective's  life.  He  is  obliged 
every  day  of  his  life  to  ride  over  the  tenderest 
emotions.  Forgive  me!  And  now,  boys,  scatter 
till  I  call  you  together  again.  I  hope  our  next 
search  will  be  without  such  sorrowful  accompani 
ments." 

It  succeeded.  William  stared  at  him  and  stared 
at  the  men  slowly  filing  off  down  the  yard,  but  was 
not  for  a  moment  deceived  by  these  overflowing  ex 
pressions.  On  the  contrary,  he  looked  more  con- 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  2& 

cerned  than  he  had  while  seated  between  the  two 
men  manifestly  set  to  guard  him. 

'The  deuce!"   he   cried,   with  a   shrug   of   his 
shoulders  that  expressed  anything  but  satisfaction. 

Lucetta  always  said — "  But  even  he  knew  enough 
not  to  finish  that  sentence,  low  as  he  had  mumbled 
it.  Watching  him  and  watching  Mr.  Gryce,  who 
at  that  moment  turned  to  follow  his  men,  I  thought 
the  time  had  come  for  action.  Making  another 
spring  as  if  in  fresh  terror  of  Saracen,  who,  by  the 
way,  was  eying  me  with  the  meekness  of  a  lamb, 
I  tipped  over  that  pail  with  such  suddenness  and 
with  such  dexterity  that  its  whole  contents  poured 
in  one  flood  over  William's  feet.  My  third  task 
was  accomplished. 

The  oath  he  uttered  and  the  excuses  which  I 
volubly  poured  forth  could  not  have  reached  Mr. 
Gryce's  ears,  for  he  did  not  return.  And  yet  from 
the  way  his  shoulders  shook  as  he  disappeared 
around  the  corner  of  the  house,  I  judge  that  he 
was  not  entirely  ignorant  of  the  subterfuge  by  which 
I  hoped  to  force  this  blundering  booby  of  ours  to 
change  the  boots  he  wore  for  one  of  the  pairs  into 
which  I  had  driven  those  little  tacks. 


XXXII 

RELIEF 

THE  plan  succeeded.     Mr.  Gryce's  plans  usually 
do.     William  went  immediately  to  his  room, 
and  in  a  little  while  came  down  and  hastened  into 
the  cellar. 

"  I  want  to  see  what  mischief  they  have  done," 
said  he. 

When  he  came  back,  his  face  was  beaming. 

"  All  right,"  he  shouted  to  his  sisters,  who  had 
come  into  the  hall  to  meet  him.  '  Your  secret 's 

out,  but  mine " 

There,  there!  "  interposed  Loreen,  "  you  had 
better  go  up-stairs  and  prepare  for  supper.  We 
must  eat,  William,  or  rather,  Miss  Butterworth  must 
eat,  whatever  our  sorrows  or  disappointments." 

He  took  the  rebuke  with  a  grunt  and  relieved  us 
of  his  company.  Little  did  he  think  as  he  went 
whistling  up  the  stairs  that  he  had  just  shown  Mr. 
Gryce  where  to  search  for  whatever  might  be  lying 
under  the  broad  sweep  of  that  cellar-bottom. 

That  night — it  was  after  supper,  which  I  did  not 
eat  for  all  my  natural  stoicism — Hannah  came  rush- 

290 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  2$l 

ing  in  where  we  all  sat  silent,  for  the  girls  showed 
no  disposition  to  enlarge  their  confidences  in  regard 
to  their  mother,  and  no  other  topic  seemed  possible, 
and,  closing  the  door  behind  her,  said  quickly  and 
with  evident  chagrin : 

'  Those  men  are  here  again.  They  say  they 
forgot  something.  What  do  you  think  it  means, 
Miss  Loreen  ?  They  have  spades  and  lanterns 
and " 

'  They  are  the  police,  Hannah.  If  they  forgot 
something,  they  have  the  right  to  return.  Don't 
work  yourself  up  about  that.  The  secret  they  have 
already  found  out  was  our  worst.  There  is  nothing 
to  fear  after  that."  And  she  dismissed  Hannah, 
merely  bidding  her  let  us  know  when  the  house 
was  quite  clear. 

Was  she  right  ?  Was  there  nothing  worse  for 
them  to  fear  ?  I  longed  to  leave  these  trembling 
sisters,  longed  to  join  the  party  below  and  follow 
in  the  track  of  the  tiny  impressions  made  by  the 
tacks  I  had  driven  into  William's  soles.  If  there 
was  anything  hidden  under  the  cellar-bottom,  natu 
ral  anxiety  would  carry  him  to  the  spot  he  had 
most  to  fear;  so  they  would  only  have  to  dig 
at  the  places  where  these  impressions  took  a  sharp 
turn. 

But  was  there  anything  hidden  there  ?  From  the 
sisters'  words  and  actions  I  judged  there  was  nothing 
serious,  but  would  they  know  ?  William  was  quite 


2Q2  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

capable  of  deceiving  them.  Had  he  done  so  ?  It 
was  a  question. 

It  was  solved  for  us  by  Mr.  Gryce's  reappearance 
in  the  room  an  hour  or  so  later.  From  the  moment 
the  light  fell  upon  his  kindly  features  I  knew  that 
I  might  breathe  again  freely.  It  was  not  the  face 
he  showed  in  the  house  of  a  criminal,  nor  did  his 
bow  contain  any  of  the  false  deference  with  which  he 
sometimes  tries  to  hide  his  secret  doubt  or  contemp'. 

"  I  have  come  to  trouble  you  for  the  last  time, 
ladies.  We  have  made  a  double  search  through  this 
house  and  through  the  stables,  and  feel  perfectly 
justified  in  saying  that  our  duty  henceforth  will  lead 
us  elsewhere.  The  secrets  we  have  surprised  are 
your  own,  and  if  possible  shall  remain  so.  Your 
brother's  propensity  for  vivisection  and  the  return 
and  death  of  your  mother  bear  so  little  on  the  real 
question  which  interests  this  community  that  we 
may  be  able  to  prevent  their  spread  as  gossip 
through  the  town.  That  this  may  be  done  con 
scientiously,  however,  I  ought  to  know  something 
more  of  the  latter  circumstance.  If  Miss  Butter- 
worth  will  then  be  good  enough  to  grant  me  a  few 
minutes'  conference  with  these  ladies,  I  may  be  able 
to  satisfy  myself  to  such  an  extent  as  to  let  this 
matter  rest  where  it  is." 

I  rose  with  right  good  will.  A  mountain  weight 
had  been  lifted  from  me,  proof  positive  that  I  had 
really  come  to  love  these  girls. 


FORWARD  AND  BACK  293 

What  they  told  him,  whether  it  was  less  or  more 
than  they  told  me,  I  cannot  say,  and  for  the  mo 
ment  did  not  know.  That  it  had  not  shaken  his  faith 
in  them  was  evident,  for  when  he  came  out  to  where 
I  was  waiting  in  the  hall  his  aspect  was  even  more 
encouraging  than  it  had  been  before. 

<:  No  guile  in  those  girls,"  he  whispered  as  he 
passed  me.  '  The  clue  given  by  what  seemed 
mysterious  in  this  house  has  come  to  naught.  To 
morrow  we  take  up  another.  The  trinkets  found  in 
Mother  Jane's  cottage  are  something  real.  You 
may  sleep  soundly  to-night,  Miss  Butterworth. 
Your  part  has  been  well  played,  but  I  know  you  are 
glad  that  it  has  failed." 

And  I  knew  that  I  was  glad,  too,  which  is  the  best 
proof  that  there  is  something  in  me  besides  the 
detective  instinct. 

The  front  door  had  scarcely  closed  behind  him 
when  William  came  storming  in.  He  had  been 
gossiping  over  the  fence  with  Mr.  Trohm,  and  had 
been  beguiled  into  taking  a  glass  of  wine  in  his 
house.  This  was  evident  without  his  speaking  of  it. 
Those  sneaks!  "  cried  he.  .  "  I  hear  they  've 
been  back  again,  digging  and  stirring  up  our  cellar- 
bottom  like  mad.  That  's  because  you  're  so  dread 
ful  shy,  you  girls.  You  're  afraid  of  this,  you  're 
afraid  of  that.  You  don't  want  folks  to  know  that 
mother  once —  Well,  well,  there  it  is  now!  If  you 
had  not  tried  to  keep  this  wretched  secret,  it  would 


2Q4  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

have  been  an  old  matter  by  this  time,  and  my  affairs 
would  have  been  left  untouched.  But  now  every 
fool  will  cry  out  at  me  in  this  staid,  puritanical  old 
town,  and  all  because  a  few  bones  have  been  found 
of  animals  which  have  died  in  the  cause  of  science. 
I  say  it  's  all  your  fault !  Not  that  I  have  anything 
to  be  ashamed  of,  because  I  have  n't,  but  because 
this  other  thing,  this  d — d  wicked  series  of  disap 
pearances,  taking  place,  for  aught  we  know,  a  dozen 
rods  from  our  gates  (though  I  think — but  no  matter 
what  I  think — you  all  like,  or  say  you  like,  old  Dea 
con  Spear),  has  made  every  one  so  touchy  in  this 
pharisaical  town  that  to  kill  a  fly  has  become  a  crime 
even  if  it  is  to  save  oneself  from  poison.  I  'm  going 
to  see  if  I  cannot  make  folks  blink  askance  at  some 
other  man  than  me.  I  'm  going  to  find  out  who  or 
what  causes  these  disappearances." 

This  was  a  declaration  to  make  us  all  stare  and 
look  a  little  bit  foolish.  William  playing  the  de 
tective  !  Well,  what  might  I  not  live  to  see  next ! 
But  the  next  moment  an  overpowering  thought 
struck  me.  Might  this  Deacon  Spear  by  any- 
chance  be  the  rich  man  whose  animosity  Althea 
Knollys  had  awakened  ? 


BOOK  IV 
THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR 

XXXIII 

LUCETTA 

THE  next  morning  I  rose  with  the  lark.  I  had 
slept  well,  and  all  my  old  vigor  had  returned. 
A  new  problem  was  before  me;  a  problem  of  sur 
passing  interest,  now  that  the  Knollys  family  had 
been  eliminated  from  the  list  of  persons  regarded 
with  suspicion  by  the  police.  Mother  Jane  and  the 
jewels  were  to  be  Mr.  Gryce's  starting-point  for 
future  investigation.  Should  they  be  mine  ?  My 
decision  on  this  point  halted,  and  thinking  it  might 
be  helped  by  a  breath  of  fresh  air,  I  decided  upon 
an  early  stroll  as  a  means  of  settling  this  momentous 
question. 

There  was  silence  in  the  house  when  I  passed 
through  it  on  my  way  to  the  front  door.  But  that 
silence  had  lost  its  terrors  and  the  old  house  its  ab 
sorbing  mystery.  Yet  it  was  not  robbed  of  its  in- 

295 


296  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

terest.  When  I  realized  that  Althea  Knollys,  the 
Althea  of  my  youth,  had  just  died  within  its  walls 
is  ignorant  of  my  proximity  as  I  of  hers,  I  felt  that 
no  old-time  romance,  nor  any  terror  brought  by  flit 
ting  ghost  or  stalking  apparition,  could  compare 
with  the  wonder  of  this  return  and  the  strange  and 
thrilling  circumstances  which  had  attended  it.  And 
the  end  was  not  yet.  Peaceful  as  everything  now 
looked,  I  still  felt  that  the  end  had  not  come. 

The  fact  that  Saracen  was  loose  in  the  yard  gave 
me  some  slight  concern  as  I  opened  the  great  front 
door  and  looked  out.  But  the  control  under  which 
I  had  held  him  the  day  before  encouraged  me  in  my 
venture,  and  after  a  few  words  with  Hannah,  who 
was  careful  not  to  let  me  slip  away  unnoticed,  I 
boldly  stepped  forth  and  took  my  solitary  way  down 
to  the  gate. 

It  was  not  yet  eight,  and  the  grass  was  still  heavy 
with  dew.  At  the  gate  I  paused.  I  wished  to  go 
farther,  but  Mr.  Gryce's  injunction  had  been  im 
perative  about  venturing  into  the  lane  alone.  Be 
sides —  No,  that  was  not  a  horse's  hoof.  There 
could  be  no  one  on  the  road  so  early  as  this.  I  was 
alarming  myself  unnecessarily,  yet —  Well,  I  held  my 
place,  a  little  awkwardly,  perhaps.  Self-conscious 
ness  is  always  awkward,  and  I  could  not  help  being 
a  trifle  self-conscious  at  a  meeting  so  unexpected 
and —  But  the  more  I  attempt  to  explain,  the  more 
confused  my  expressions  become,  so  I  will  just  say 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  297 

that,  by  this  very  strange  chance,  I  was  leaning  over 
the  gate  when  Mr.  Trohm  rode  up  for  the  second 
time  and  found  me  there. 

I  did  not  attempt  any  excuses.  He  is  gentleman 
enough  to  understand  that  a  woman  of  my  tempera 
ment  rises  early  and  must  have  the  morning  air. 
That  he  should  feel  the  same  necessity  is  a  coinci 
dence,  natural  perhaps,  but  still  a  coincidence.  So 
there  was  nothing  to  be  said  about  it. 

But  had  there  been,  I  would  not  have  spoken,  for 
he  seemed  so  gratified  at  finding  me  enjoying  nature 
at  this  early  hour  that  any  words  from  me  would 
have  been  quite  superfluous.  He  did  not  dismount 
— that  would  have  shown  intention — but  he  stopped, 
and — well,  we  have  both  passed  the  age  of  romance, 
and  what  he  said  cannot  be  of  interest  to  the  general 
public,  especially  as  it  did  not  deal  with  the  disap 
pearances  or  with  the  discoveries  made  in  the  Knollys 
house  the  day  before,  or  with  any  of  those  questions 
which  have  absorbed  our  attention  up  to  this  time. 

That  we  were  engaged  more  than  five  minutes  in 
this  conversation  I  cannot  believe.  I  have  always 
been  extremely  accurate  in  regard  to  time,  yet  a 
good  half-hour  was  lost  by  me  that  morning  for 
which  I  have  never  been  able  to  account.  Perhaps 
it  was  spent  in  the  short  discussion  which  termi 
nated  our  interview;  a  discussion  which  may  be  of 
interest  to  you,  for  it  was  upon  the  action  of  the 
police. 


298  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

1  Nothing  came  of  the  investigations  made  by 
Mr.  Gryce  yesterday,  I  perceive,"  Mr.  Trohm  had 
remarked,  with  some  reluctance,  as  he  gathered  up 
his  reins  to  depart.  "  Well,  that  is  not  strange. 
How  could  he  have  hoped  to  find  any  clue  to  such 
a  mystery  as  he  is  engaged  to  unearth,  in  a,  house 
presided  over  by  Miss  Knollys  ?  " 

'  How  could  he,  indeed!  Yet,"  I  added,  deter 
mined  to  allay  this  man's  suspicions,  which,  not 
withstanding  the  openness  of  his  remark,  were  still 
observable  in  his  tones,  "  you  say  that  with  an  air 
I  should  hardly  expect  from  so  good  a  neighbor  and 
friend.  Why  is  this,  Mr.  Trohm  ?  Surely  you  do 
not  associate  crime  with  the  Misses  Knollys  ?  " 

"  Crime  ?  Oh,  no,  certainly  not.  No  one  could 
associate  crime  with  the  Misses  Knollys.  If  my 
tone  was  at  fault,  it  was  due  perhaps  to  my  embar 
rassment — this  meeting,  your  kindness,  the  beauty 
of  the  day,  and  the  feeling  these  all  call  forth. 
Well,  I  may  be  pardoned  if  my  tones  are  not  quite 
true  in  discussing  other  topics.  My  thoughts  were 
with  the  one  I  addressed." 

'  Then  that  tone  of  doubt  was  all  the  more  mis 
placed,"  I  retorted.  "  I  am  so  frank,  I  cannot  bear 
innuendo  in  others.  Besides,  Mr.  Trohm,  the  worst 
folly  of  this  home  was  laid  bare  yesterday  in  a  way 
to  set  at  rest  all  darker  suspicions.  You  knew  that 
William  indulged  in  vivisection.  Well,  that  is  bad, 
but  it  cannot  be  called  criminal.  Let  us  do  him 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE   AIR  299 

justice,  then,  and,  for  his  sisters'  sake,  see  how  we 
can  re-establish  him  in  the  good  graces  of  the  com 
munity." 

But  Mr.  Trohm,  who  for  all  our  short  acquaintance 
was  not  without  a  very  decided  appreciation  for  cer 
tain  points  in  my  character,  shook  his  head  and  with 
a  smiling  air  returned  : 

You  are  asking  the  impossible  not  only  of  the 
community,  but  yourself.  William  can  never  re 
establish  himself.  He  is  of  too  rude  a  make.  The 
girls  may  recover  the  esteem  they  seem  to  have  lost, 
but  William —  Why,  if  the  cause  of  those  disappear 
ances  was  found  to-day,  and  found  at  the  remotest 
end  of  this  road  or  even  up  in  the  mountains,  where 
no  one  seems  to  have  looked  for  it,  William  would 
still  be  known  throughout  the  county  as  a  rough  and 
cruel  man.  I  have  tried  to  stand  his  friend,  but  it  's 
been  against  odds,  Miss  Butterworth.  Even  his 
sisters  recognize  this,  and  show  their  lack  of  confi 
dence  in  our  friendship.  But  I  would  like  to  oblige 
you." 

I  knew  he  ought  to  go.  I  knew  that  if  he  had 
simply  lingered  the  five  minutes  which  common 
courtesy  allowed,  that  curious  eyes  would  be  look 
ing  from  Loreen's  window,  and  that  at  any  minute 
I  might  expect  some  interference  from  Lucetta, 
who  had  read  through  this  man's  forbearance  toward 
William  the  very  natural  distrust  he  could  not  but 
feel  toward  so  uncertain  a  character.  Yet  with  such 


300  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

an  opportunity  at  my  command,  how  could   I   let 
him  go  without  another  question  ? 

"  Mr.  Trohm,"  said  I,  "  you  have  the  kindest 
heart  and  the  closest  lips,  but  have  you  ever  thought 
that  Deacon  Spear — 

He  stopped  me  with  a  really  horrified  look. 
'  Deacon  Spear's  house  was  thoroughly  examined 
yesterday,"  said  he,  "  as  mine  will  be  to-day. 
Don't  insinuate  anything  against  him!  Leave  that 
for  foolish  William."  Then  with  the  most  charm 
ing  return  to  his  old  manner,  for  I  felt  myself  in  a 
measure  rebuked,  he  lifted  his  hat  and  urged  his 
horse  forward.  But,  having  withdrawn  himself  a 
step  or  two,  he  paused  and  with  the  slightest  gesture 
toward  the  little  hut  he  was  facing,  added  in  a  much 
lower  tone  than  any  he  had  yet  used:  "  Besides, 
Deacon  Spear  is  much  too  far  away  from  Mother 
Jane's  cottage.  Don't  you  remember  that  I  told 
you  she  never  could  be  got  to  go  more  than  forty 
rods  from  her  own  doorstep  ?  "  And,  breaking  into 
a  quick  canter,  he  rode  away. 

I  was  left  to  think  over  his  words,  and  the  impos 
sibility  of  my  picking  up  any  other  clue  than  that 
given  me  by  Mr.  Gryce. 

I  was  turning  toward  the  house  when  I  heard  a 
slight    noise    at    my    feet.      Looking   down,    I   en 
countered  the  eyes  of  Saracen.      He  was  crouching 
at  my  side,  and  as  I   turned  toward  him,    his  tail 
actually  wagged.     It  was  a  sight  to  call  the  color  up 


THE  BIRDS   OF    THE  AIR  3<DI 

to  my  cheek;  not  that  I  blushed  at  this  sign  of 
good-will,  astonishing  as  it  was,  considering  my 
feeling  toward  dogs,  but  at  his  being  there  at  all 
without  my  knowing  it.  So  palpable  a  proof  that 
no  woman — I  make  no  exceptions — can  listen  more 
than  one  minute  to  the  expressions  of  a  man's  sin 
cere  admiration  without  losing  a  little  of  her  watch 
fulness,  was  not  to  be  disregarded  by  one  as 
inexorable  to  her  own  mistakes  as  to  those  of 
others.  I  saw  myself  the  victim  of  vanity,  and 
while  somewhat  abashed  by  the  discovery,  I  could 
not  but  realize  that  this  solitary  proof  of  feminine 
weakness  was  not  really  to  be  deplored  in  one  who 
has  not  yet  passed  the  line  beyond  which  any  such 
display  is  ridiculous. 

Lucetta  met  me  at  the  door  just  as  I  had  expected 
her  to.  Giving  me  a  short  look,  she  spoke  eagerly 
but  with  a  latent  anxiety,  for  which  I  was  more  or 
less  prepared. 

'  I  am  glad  to  see  you  looking  so  bright  this 
morning,"  she  declared.  '  We  are  all  feeling  better 
now  that  the  incubus  of  secrecy  is  removed.  But  " 
—here  she  hesitated—  '  I  would  not  like  to  think 
you  told  Mr.  Trohm  what  happened  to  us  yester 
day. 

'  Lucetta,"  said  I,  "  there  may  be  women  of  my 
age  who  delight  in  gossiping  about  family  affairs 
with  comparative  strangers,  but  I  am  not  that  kind 
of  woman.  Mr.  Trohm,  friendly  as  he  has  proved 


302  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

himself  and  worthy  as  he  undoubtedly  is  of  your 
confidence  and  trust,  will  have  to  learn  from  some 
other  person  than  myself  anything  which  you  may 
wish  to  have  withheld  from  him." 

For  reply  she  gave  me  an  impulsive  kiss.  "  I 
thought  I  could  trust  you,"  she  cried.  Then,  with  a 
dubious  look,  half  daring,  half  shrinking,  she  added  : 
'  When  you  come  to  know  and  like  us  better, 
you  will  not  care  so  much  to  talk  to  neighbors. 
They  never  can  understand  us  or  do  us  justice,  Mr. 
Trohm,  especially." 

This  was  a  remark  I  could  not  let  pass. 

"  Why  ?"  I  demanded.  "  Why  do  you  think 
Mr.  Trohm  cherishes  such  animosity  towards  you  ? 
Has  he  ever — 

But  Lucetta  could  exercise  a  repellent  dignity 
when  she  chose.  I  did  not  finish  my  sentence, 
though  I  must  have  looked  the  inquiry  I  thought 
better  not  to  put  into  words. 

'  Mr.  Trohm  is  a  man  of  blameless  reputation," 
she  avowed.  "  If  he  has  allowed  himself  to  cherish 
suspicions  in  our  regard,  he  has  doubtless  had  his 
reasons  for  it." 

And  with  these  quiet  words  she  left  me  to  my 
thoughts,  and  I  must  say  to  my  doubts,  which  were 
all  the  more  painful  that  I  saw  no  immediate  oppor 
tunity  for  clearing  them  up. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  William  burst  in  with  news 
from  the  other  end  of  the  lane. 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  303 

"  Such  a  lark!  "  he  cried.  '  The  investigation  at 
Deacon  Spear's  house  was  a  mere  farce,  and  I  just 
made  them  repeat  it  with  a  few  frills.  They  had 
dug  up  my  cellar,  and  I  was  determined  they  should 
dig  up  his.  Oh,  the  fun  it  was!  The  old  fellow 
kicked,  but  I  had  my  way.  They  could  n't  refuse 
me,  you  know;  I  had  n't  refused  them.  So  that 
man's  cellar-bottom  has  had  a  stir  up.  They  did  n't 
find  anything,  but  it  did  me  a  lot  of  good,  and  that  's 
something.  I  do  hate  Deacon  Spear — could  n't  hate 
him  worse  if  he  'd  killed  and  buried  ten  men  under 
his  hearthstone." 

"  There  is  no  harm  in  Deacon  Spear,"  said  Lu- 
cetta,  quickly. 

"  Did  they  submit  Mr.  Trohm's  house  to  a  search 
also  ?"  asked  Loreen,  ashamed  of  William's  heat 
and  anxious  to  avert  any  further  display  of  it. 

"  Yes,  they  went  through  that  too.  I  was  with 
them.  Glad  I  was  too.  I  say,  girls,  I  could  have 
laughed  to  see  all  the  comforts  that  old  bachelor  has 
about  him.  Never  saw  such  fixings.  Why,  that 
house  is  as  neat  and  pretty  from  top  to  bottom  as 
any  old  maid's.  It  's  silly,  of  course,  for  a  man, 
and  I  'd  rather  live  in  an  old  rookery  like  this,  where 
I  can  walk  from  room  to  room  in  muddy  boots  if  I 
want  to,  and  train  my  dogs  and  live  in  freedom  like 
the  man  I  am.  Yet  I  could  n't  help  thinking  it 
mighty  comfortable,  too,  for  an  old  fellow  like  him 
who  likes  such  things  and  don't  have  chick  or  child 


304  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

to   meddle.     Why,  he   had   pincushions   on   all  his 
bureaus,  and  they  had  pins  in  them." 

The  laugh  with  which  he  delivered  this  last  sen 
tence  might  have  been  heard  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
away.  Lucetta  looked  at  Loreen  and  Loreen 
looked  at  me,  but  none  of  us  joined  in  the  mirth, 
which  seemed  to  me  very  ill-timed. 

Suddenly  Lucetta  asked : 

Did  they  dig  up  Mr.  Trohm's  cellar  ?  " 

William  stopped  laughing  long  enough  to  say: 
'  His  cellar  ?  Why,  it  's  cemented  as  hard  as  an 
oak  floor.  No,  they  did  n't  polish  their  spades  in 
his  house,  which  was  another  source  of  satisfaction 
to  me.  Deacon  Spear  has  n't  even  that  to  comfort 
him.  Oh,  how  I  did  enjoy  that  old  fellow's  face 
wrhen  they  began  to  root  up  his  old  fungi!  " 

Lucetta  turned  away  with  a  certain  odd  constraint 
I  could  not  but  notice. 

It  's  a  humiliating  day  for  the  lane,"  said  she. 
1 '  And  what  is  worse, ' '  she  suddenly  added,  ' '  nothing 
will  ever  come  of  it.  It  will  take  more  than  a  band 
of  police  to  reach  the  root  of  this  matter." 

I  thought  her  manner  odd,  and,  moving  towards 
her,  took  her  by  the  hand  with  something  of  a  rela 
tive's  familiarity. 

'  What  makes  you  say  that  ?     Mr.  Gryce  seems 
a  very  capable  man." 

'  Yes,  yes,  but  capability  has  nothing  to  do  with 
it.     Chance  might  and   pluck   might,   but  wit  and 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  305 

experience  not.     Otherwise  the  mystery  would  have 

been  settled  long  ago.     I  wish  I 

'  Well  ?  "     Her  hand  was  trembling  violently. 

"  Nothing.  I  don't  know  why  I  have  allowed 
myself  to  talk  on  this  subject.  Loreen  and  I  once 
made  a  compact  never  to  give  any  opinion  upon  it. 
You  see  how  I  have  kept  it." 

She  had  drawn  her  hand  away  and  suddenly  had 
become  quite  composed.  I  turned  my  attention 
toward  Loreen,  but  she  was  looking  out  of  the  win 
dow  and  showed  no  intention  of  further  pursuing 
the  conversation.  William  had  strolled  out. 

'  Well,"  said  I,  "  if  ever  a  girl  had  reason  for 
breaking  such  a  compact  you  are  certainly  that  girl. 
I  could  never  have  been  as  silent  as  you  have  been 
— that  is,  if  I  had  any  suspicions  on  so  serious  a 
subject.  Why,  your  own  good  name  is  impugned — 
yours  and  that  of  every  other  person  living  in  this 
lane." 

"  Miss  Butterworth,"  she  replied,  "  I  have  gone 
too  far.  Besides,  you  have  misunderstood  me.  I 
have  no  more  knowledge  than  anybody  else  as  to 
the  source  of  these  terrible  tragedies.  I  only  know 
that  an  almost  superhuman  cunning  lies  at  the  bot 
tom  of  so  many  unaccountable  disappearances,  a 
cunning  so  great  that  only  a  crazy  person — 

"  Ah,"  I  murmured  eagerly,  "  Mother  Jane!  " 

She  did  not  answer.      Instantly  I  took  a  resolution- 
Lucetta, ' '  said  I, ' '  is  Deacon  Spear  a  rich  man ?  " 


306  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Starting  violently,  she  looked  at  me  amazed. 

If  he  is,  I  should  like  to  hazard  the  guess  that 
he  is  the  man  who  has  held  you  in  such  thraldom 
for  years." 

"  And  if  he  were  ?  "  said  she. 

I  could  understand  William's  antipathy  to  him 
and  also  his  suspicions." 

She  gave  me  a  strange  look,  then  without  answer 
ing  walked  over  and   took    Loreen    by   the   hand. 
'  Hush!  "  I  thought  I  heard  her  whisper.     At  all 
events  the  two  sisters  were  silent  for  more  than  a 
moment.     Then  Lucetta  said: 

Deacon  Spear  is  well  off,  but  nothing  will  ever 
make  me  accuse  living  man  of  crime  so  dreadful." 
And  she  walked  away,  drawing  Loreen  after  her. 
In  another  moment  she  was  out  of  the  room,  leaving 
me  in  a  state  of  great  excitement. 

'  This  girl  holds  the  secret  to  the  whole  situa 
tion,"  I  inwardly  decided.  '  The  belief  that 
nothing  more  can  be  learned  from  her  is  a  false  one. 
I  must  see  Mr.  Gryce.  William's  rodomontades  are 
so  much  empty  air,  but  Lucetta's  silence  has  a 
meaning  we  cannot  afford  to  ignore." 

So  impressed  was  I  by  this,  that  I  took  the  first 
opportunity  which  presented  itself  of  seeing  the 
detective.  This  was  early  the  next  morning.  He 
and  several  of  the  townspeople  had  made  their  ap 
pearance  at  Mother  Jane's  cottage,  with  spades  and 
picks,  and  the  sight  had  naturally  drawn  us  all  down 


THE  BIRDS   OF    THE  AIR  307 

to  the  gate,  where  we  stood  watching  operations  in 
a  silence  which  would  have  been  considered  un 
natural  by  any  one  who  did  not  realize  the  conflict 
ing  nature  of  the  emotions  underlying  it.  William, 
to  whom  the  death  of  his  mother  seemed  to  be  a 
great  deliverance,  had  been  inclined  to  be  more  or 
less  jocular,  but  his  sallies  meeting  with  no  response, 
he  had  sauntered  away  to  have  it  out  with  his  dogs, 
leaving  me  alone  with  the  two  girls  and  Hannah. 

The  latter  seemed  to  be  absorbed  entirely  by  the 
aspect  of  Mother  Jane,  who  stood  upon  her  door 
step  in  an  attitude  so  menacing  that  it  was  little 
short  of  tragic.  Her  hood,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
memory  of  those  present,  had  fallen  away  from  her 
head,  revealing  a  wealth  of  gray  hair  which  flew 
away  from  her  head  like  a  weird  halo.  Her  features 
we  could  not  distinguish,  but  the  emotion  which  in 
spired  her,  breathed  in  every  gesture  of  her  uplifted 
arms  and  swaying  body.  It  was  wrath  personified, 
and  yet  an  unreasoning  wrath.  One  could  see  she 
was  as  much  dazed  as  outraged.  Her  lares  and 
penates  were  being  attacked,  and  she  had  come  from 
the  heart  of  her  solitude  to  defend  them. 

I  declare!  "  Hannah  protested.  '  It  is  pitiful. 
She  has  nothing  in  the  world  but  that  garden,  and 
now  they  are  going  to  root  that  up." 

Do  you  think  that  the  sight  of  a  little  money 
would  appease  her  ?  "  I  inquired,  anxious  for  an  ex 
cuse  to  drop  a  word  into  the  ear  of  Mr.  Gryce. 


308  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

1  Perhaps,"   said    Hannah.      (<  She    dearly   loves 
money,  but  it  will  not  take  away  her  fright." 

It  will  if  she  has  nothing  to  be  frightened 
about,"  said  I;  and  turning  to  the  girls,  I  asked 
them,  somewhat  mincingly  for  me,  if  they  thought 
I  would  make  myself  conspicuous  if  I  crossed  the 
road  on  this  errand,  and  when  Loreen  answered 
that  that  would  not  deter  her  if  she  had  the  money, 
and  Lucetta  added  that  the  sight  of  such  misery 
was  too  painful  for  any  mere  personal  consideration, 
I  took  advantage  of  their  complaisance,  and  hastily 
made  my  way  over  to  the  group,  who  were  debating 
as  to  the  point  they  would  attack  first. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  I,  "  good-morning.  I  am 
here  on  an  errand  of  mercy.  Poor  old  Mother 
Jane  is  half  imbecile  and  does  not  understand  why 
you  invade  her  premises  with  these  implements. 
Will  you  object  if  I  endeavor  to  distract  her  mind 
with  a  little  piece  of  gold  I  happen  to  have  in 
my  pocket  ?  She  may  not  deserve  it,  but  it  will 
make  your  task  easier  and  save  us  some  possible 
concern." 

Half  of  the  men  at  once  took  off  their  hats.  The 
other  half  nudged  each  other's  elbows,  and  whis 
pered  and  grimaced  like  the  fools  they  were.  The 
first  half  were  gentlemen,  though  not  all  of  them 
wore  gentlemen's  clothes. 

It  was  Mr.  Gryce  who  spoke: 

"  Certainly,  madam.     Give  the  old  woman  any- 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  309 

thing  you  please,  but —  And  here  he  stepped  up 
to  me  and  began  to  whisper:  "  You  have  something 
to  say.  What  is  it  ?  " 

I  answered  in  the  same  quick  way:  "  The  mine 
you  thought  exhausted  has  possibilities  in  it  yet. 
Question  Lucetta.  It  may  prove  a  more  fruitful 
task  than  turning  up  this  soil." 

The  bow  he  made  was  more  for  the  onlookers 
than  for  the  suggestion  I  had  given  him.  Yet  he 
was  not  ungrateful  for  the  latter,  as  I,  who  was  be 
ginning  to  understand  him,  could  see. 

Be  as  generous  as  you  please!  "  he  cried  aloud. 
'  We  would  not  disturb  the  old  crone  if  it  were 
not  for  one  of  her  well-known  follies.  Nothing  will 
take  her  over  forty  rods  away  from  her  home.  Now 
what  lies  within  those  forty  rods  ?  These  men 
think  we  ought  to  see." 

The  shrug  I  gave  answered  both  the  apparent  and 
the  concealed  question.  Satisfied  that  he  would 
understand  it  so,  I  hurried  away  from  him  and  ap 
proached  Mother  Jane. 

"  See!"  said  I,  astonished  at  the  regularity  of 
her  features,  now  that  I  had  a  good  opportunity  of 
observing  them.  ;<  I  have  brought  you  money. 
Let  them  dig  up  your  turnips  if  they  will." 

She  did  not  seem  to  perceive  me.  Her  eyes  were 
wild  with  dismay  and  her  lips  trembling  with  a 
passion  far  beyond  my  power  to  comfort. 

"  Lizzie!  "  she  cried.     "  Lizzie \     She  will  come 


3IO  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

back  and  find  no  home.  Oh,  my  poor  girl!  My 
poor,  poor  girl!  " 

It  was  pitiable.  I  could  not  doubt  her  anguish  or 
her  sincerity.  The  delirium  of  a  broken  heart  can 
not  be  simulated.  And  this  heart  was  not  controlled 
by  reason  ;  that  was  equally  apparent.  Immediately 
my  heart,  which  goes  out  slowly,  but  none  the  less 
truly  on  that  account,  was  touched  by  something 
more  than  the  surface  sympathy  of  the  moment. 
She  may  have  stolen,  she  may  have  done  worse,  she 
may  even  have  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  horrible 
crimes  which  have  given  its  name  to  the  lane  we 
were  in,  but  her  acts,  if  acts  they  were,  were  the 
result  of  a  clouded  mind  fixed  forever  upon  the 
fancied  needs  of  another,  and  not  the  expression  of 
personal  turpitude  or  even  of  personal  longing  or 
avarice.  Therefore  I  could  pity  her,  and  I  did. 

Making  another  appeal,  I  pressed  the  coin  hard 
into  one  of  her  hands  till  the  contact  effected  what 
my  words  had  been  unable  to  do,  and  she  finally 
looked  down  and  saw  what  she  was  clutching. 
Then  indeed  her  aspect  changed,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  of  slowly  growing  comprehension  she  be 
came  so  quiet  and  absorbed  that  she  forgot  to  look 
at  the  men  and  even  forgot  me,  who  was  probably 
nothing  more  than  a  flitting  shadow  to  her. 

"  A  silk  gown,"  she  murmured.  ;<  It  will  buy 
Lizzie  a  silk  gown.  Oh!  where  did  it  come  from, 
the  good,  good  gold,  the  beautiful  gold ;  such  a 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE  AIR  311 

little  piece,  yet  enough  to  make  her  look  fine,  my 
Lizzie,  my  pretty,  pretty  Lizzie  ?  " 

No  numbers  this  time.  The  gift  was  too  over 
powering  for  her  even  to  remember  that  it  must  be 
hidden  away. 

I  walked  away  while  her  delight  was  still  voluble. 
Somehow  it  eased  my  mind  to  have  done  her  this 
little  act  of  kindness,  and  I  think  it  eased  the  minds 
of  the  men  too.  At  all  events,  every  hat  was  off 
when  I  repassed  them  on  my  way  back  to  the 
Knollys  gateway. 

I  had  left  both  the  girls  there,  but  I  found  only 
one  awaiting  me.  Lucetta  had  gone  in,  and  so  had 
Hannah.  On  what  errand  I  was  soon  to  know. 

'  What  do  you  suppose  that  detective  wants  of 
Lucetta  now  ?  "  asked  Loreen  as  I  took  my  station 
again  at  her  side.  '  While  you  were  talking  to 
Mother  Jane  he  stepped  over  here,  and  with  a  word 
or  two  induced  Lucetta  to  walk  away  with  him 
toward  the  house.  See,  there  they  are  in  those 
thick  shrubs  near  the  right  wing.  He  seems  to  be 
pleading  with  her.  Do  you  think  I  ought  to  join 
them  and  find  out  what  he  is  urging  upon  her  so 
earnestly  ?  I  don't  like  to  seem  intrusive,  but  Lu 
cetta  is  easily  agitated,  you  know,  and  his  business 
cannot  be  of  an  indifferent  nature  after  all  he  has 
discovered  concerning  our  affairs." 

No,"  I  agreed,  "  and  yet  I  think  Lucetta  will 
be  strong  enough  to  sustain  the  conversation,  judg- 


312  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ing  from  the  very  erect  attitude  she  is  holding  now. 
Perhaps  he  thinks  she  can  tell  him  where  to  dig. 
They  seem  a  little  at  sea  over  there,  and  living,  as 
you  do,  a  few  rods  from  Mother  Jane,  he  may  im 
agine  that  Lucetta  can  direct  him  where  to  first 
plant  the  spade." 

"  It  's  an  insult,"  Loreen  protested.  "  All  these 
talks  and  visits  are  insults.  To  be  sure,  this  detcc 
tive  has  some  excuse,  but —  j 

'  Keep   your   eye   on    Lucetta,"    I  interrupted. 

She  is  shaking  her  head  and  looking  very  positive. 
She  will  prove  to  him  it  is  an  insult.  We  need  not 
interfere,  I  think." 

But  Loreen  had  grown  pensive  and  did  not  heed 
my  suggestion.  A  look  that  was  almost  wistful  had 
supplanted  the  expression  of  indignant  revolt  with 
which  she  had  addressed  me,  and  when  next  moment 
the  two  we  had  been  watching  turned  and  came 
slowly  toward  us,  it  was  with  decided  energy  she 
bounded  forward  and  joined  them. 

'  What  is  the  matter  now  ?  "  she  asked.  '  What 
does  Mr.  Gryce  want,  Lucetta  ?  " 

Mr.  Gryce  himself  spoke. 

"  I  simply  want  her,"  said  he,  "  to  assist  me 
with  a  clue  from  her  inmost  thoughts.  When  I  was 
in  your  house,"  he  explained  with  a  praiseworthy 
consideration  for  me  and  my  relations  to  these  girls 
for  which  I  cannot  be  too  grateful,  "  I  saw  in  this 
young  lady  something  which  convinced  me  that,  as 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  313 

a  dweller  in  this  lane,  she  was  not  without  her  sus 
picions  as  to  the  secret  cause  of  the  fatal  mysteries 
which  I  have  been  sent  here  to  clear  up.  To-day  I 
have  frankly  accused  her  of  this,  and  asked  her  to 
confide  in  me.  But  she  refuses  to  do  so,  Miss  Lo- 
reen.  Yet  her  face  shows  even  at  this  moment  that 
my  old  eyes  were  not  at  fault  in  my  reading  of  her 
She  does  suspect  somebody,  and  it  is  not  Mother 
Jane." 

"  How  can  you  say  that  ?"  began  Lucetta,  but 
the  eyes  which  Loreen  that  moment  turned  upon 
her  seemed  to  trouble  her,  for  she  did  not  attempt 
to  say  any  more — only  looked  equally  obstinate  and 
distressed. 

"  If  Lucetta  suspects  any  one,"  Loreen  now 
steadily  remarked,  "  then  I  think  'she  ought  to  tell 
you  who  it  is." 

You  do.  Then  perhaps  you —  '  commenced 
Mr.  Gryce — "  can  persuade  her  as  to  her  duty,"  he 
finished,  as  he  saw  her  head  rise  in  protest  of  what 
he  evidently  had  intended  to  demand. 

"  Lucetta  will  not  yield  to  persuasion,"  washer 
quiet  reply.  '  Nothing  short  of  conviction  will 
move  the  sweetest-natured  but  the  most  determined 
of  all  my  mother's  children.  What  she  thinks  is 
right,  she  will  do.  I  will  not  attempt  to  influence 
her." 

Mr.  Gryce,  with  one  comprehensive  survey  of 
the  two,  hesitated  no  longer.  I  saw  the  rising  of 


314  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

the  blood  into  his  forehead,  which  always  precedes 
the  beginning  of  one  of  his  great  moves,  and,  filled 
with  a  sudden  excitement,  I  awaited  his  next  words 
as  a  tyro  awaits  the  first  unfolding  of  the  plan  he 
has  seen  working  in  the  brain  of  some  famous 
strategist. 

;<  Miss  Lucetta, " — his  very  tone  was  changed, 
changed  in  a  way  to  make  us  all  start  notwithstand 
ing  the  preparation  his  momentary  silence  had  given 
us — "  I  have  been  thus  pressing  and  perhaps  rude 
in  my  appeal,  because  of  something  which  has  come 
to  my  knowledge  which  cannot  but  make  you  of  all 
persons  extremely  anxious  as  to  the  meaning  of  this 
terrible  mystery.  I  am  an  old  man,  and  you  will 
not  mind  my  bluntness.  I  have  been  told — and 
your  agitation  convinces  me  there  is  truth  in  the 
report — that  you  have  a  lover,  a  Mr.  Ostrander — 

"  Ah !  "  She  had  sunk  as  if  crushed  by  one  over 
whelming  blow  to  the  earth.  The  eyes,  the  lips, 
the  whole  pitiful  face  that  was  upturned  to  us,  re 
main  in  my  memory  to-day  as  the  most  terrible  and 
yet  the  most  moving  spectacle  that  has  come  into 
my  by  no  means  uneventful  life.  '  What  has  hap 
pened  to  him  ?  Quick,  quick,  tell  me!  " 

For  answer  Mr.  Gryce  drew  out  a  telegram. 

"  From  the  master  of  the  ship  on  which  he  was  to 
sail,"  he  explained.  "  It  asks  if  Mr.  Ostrander  left 
this  town  on  Tuesday  last,  as  no  news  has  been 
received  of  him." 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  315 

"  Loreen!  Loreen !  When  he  left  us  he  passed 
down  that  way!"  shrieked  the  girl,  rising  like  a 
spirit  and  pointing  east  toward  Deacon  Spear's. 
"  He  is  gone!  He  is  lost!  But  his  fate  shall  not 
remain  a  mystery.  I  will  dare  its  solution.  I — I— 
To-night  you  will  hear  from  me  again." 

And  without  another  glance  at  any  of  us  she 
turned  and  fled  toward  the  house 


XXXIV 

CONDITIONS 

BUT  in  another  moment  she  was  back,  her  eyes 
dilated  and  her  whole  person  exhaling  a  ter 
rible  purpose. 

"  Do  not  look  at  me,  do  not  notice  me!"  she 
cried,  but  in  a  voice  so  hoarse  no  one  but  Mr.  Gryce 
could  fully  understand  her.  "  I  am  for  no  one's 
eyes  but  God's.  Pray  that  he  may  have  mercy 
upon  me."  Then  as  she  saw  us  all  instinctively  fall 
back,  she  controlled  herself,  and,  pointing  toward 
Mother  Jane's  cottage,  said  more  distinctly:  "  As 
for  those  men,  let  them  dig.  Let  them  dig  the 
whole  day  long.  Secrecy  must  be  kept,  a  secrecy 
so  absolute  that  not  even  the  birds  of  the  air  must 
see  that  our  thoughts  range  beyond  the  forty  rods 
surrounding  Mother  Jane's  cottage." 

She  turned  and  would  have  fled  away  for  the 
second  time,  but  Mr.  Gryce  stopped  her.  "  You 
have  set  yourself  a  task  beyond  your  strength.  Can 
you  perform  it  ?  " 

"  I  can  perform  it,"  she  said.  "  If  Loreen  does 
not  talk,  and  I  am  allowed  to  spend  the  day  in 
solitude." 

316 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE  AIR  317 

I  had  never  seen  Mr.  Gryce  so  agitated — no,  not 
when  he  left  Olive  Randolph's  bedside  after  an  hour 
of  vain  pleading.  '  But  to  wait  all  day!  Is  it 
necessary  for  you  to  wait  all  day  ?  " 

"  It  is  necessary."  She  spoke  like  an  automaton. 
1  To-night  at  twilight,  when  the  sun  is  setting, 
meet  me  at  the  great  tree  just  where  the  road  turns. 
Not  a  minute  sooner,  not  an  hour  later.  I  will  be 
calmer  then."  And  waiting  now  for  nothing,  not 
for  a  word  from  Loreen  nor  a  detaining  touch  from 
Mr.  Gryce,  she  flew  away  for  the  second  time.  This 
time  Loreen  followed  her. 

"  Well,  that  is  the  hardest  thing  I  ever  had  to 
do,"  said  Mr.  Gryce,  wiping  his  forehead  and  speak 
ing  in  a  tone  of  real  grief  and  anxiety.  '  Do  you 
think  her  delicate  frame  can  stand  it  ?  Will  she 
survive  this  day  and  carry  through  whatever  it  is 
she  has  set  herself  to  accomplish  ?  " 

"  She  has  no  organic  disease,"  said  I,  *'  but  she 
loved  that  young  man  very  much,  and  the  day  will 
be  a  terrible  one  to  her." 

Mr.  Gryce  sighed. 

"  I  wish  I  had  not  been  obliged  to  resort  to  such 
means,"  said  he,  "  but  women  like  that  only  work 
under  excitement,  and  she  does  know  the  secret  of 
this  affair." 

Do  you  mean,"  I  demanded,  almost  aghast, 
14  that  you  have  deceived  her  with  a  false  telegram; 
that  that  slip  of  paper  you  hold " 


318  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

'  Read  it,"  he  cried,  holding  it  out  toward  me. 

I  did  read  it.  Alas,  there  was  no  deception  in  it. 
It  read  as  he  said. 

However — "   I  began. 

But  he  had  pocketed  the  telegram  and  was  several 
steps  away  before  I  had  finished  my  sentence. 

"  I  am  going  to  start  these  men  up,"   said  he. 

You  will  breathe  no  word  to  Miss  Lucetta  of  my 
sympathy  noi  let  your  own  interests  slack  in  the  in 
vestigations  which  are  going  on  under  our  noses." 

And  with  a  quick,  sharp  bow,  he  made  his  way  to 
the  gate,  whither  I  followed  him  in  time  to  see  him 
set  his  foot  upon  a  patch  of  sage. 

'  You  will  begin  at  this  place,"  he  cried,  "  and 
work  east;  and,  gentlemen,  something  tells  me  that 
we  shall  be  successful." 

With  almost  a  simultaneous  sound  a  dozen  spades 
and  picks  struck  the  ground.  The  digging  up  of 
Mother  Jane's  garden  had  begun  in  earnest. 


XXXV 

THE   DOVE 

I  REMAINED  at  the  gate.  I  had  been  bidden 
to  show  my  interest  in  what  was  going  on  in 
Mother  Jane's  garden,  and  this  was  the  way  I  did 
it.  But  my  thoughts  were  not  with  the  diggers.  I 
knew,  as  well  then  as  later,  that  they  would  find 
nothing  worth  the  trouble  they  were  taking;  and, 
having  made  up  my  mind  to  this,  I  was  free  to 
follow  the  lead  of  my  own  thoughts. 

They  were  not  happy  ones ;  I  was  neither  satisfied 
with  myself  nor  with  the  prospect  of  the  long  day 
of  cruel  suspense  that  awaited  us.  When  I  under 
took  to  come  to  X.,  it  was  with  the  latent  expecta 
tion  of  making  myself  useful  in  ferreting  out  its 
mystery.  And  how  had  I  succeeded  ?  I  had  been 
the  means  through  which  one  of  its  secrets  had  been 
discovered,  but  not  the  secret;  and  while  Mr.  Gryce 
was  good  enough,  or  wise  enough,  to  show  no 
diminution  in  his  respect  for  me,  I  knew  that  I  had 
sunk  a  peg  in  his  estimation  from  the  consciousness 
I  had  of  having  sunk  two,  if  not  three  pegs,  in  my 
own. 

319 


320  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

This  was  a  galling  thought  to  me.  But  it  was  not 
the  only  one  which  disturbed  me.  Happily  or  un 
happily,  I  have  as  much  heart  as  pride,  and  Lu- 
cetta's  despair,  and  the  desperate  resolve  to  which  it 
had  led,  had  made  an  impression  upon  me  which  I 
could  not  shake  off. 

Whether  she  knew  the  criminal  or  only  suspected 
him ;  whether  in  the  heat  of  her  sudden  anguish  she 
had  promised  more  or  less  than  she  could  perform, 
the  fact  remained  that  we  (by  whom  I  mean  first 
and  above  all,  Mr.  Gryce,  the  ablest  detective  on  the 
New  York  force,  and  myself,  who,  if  no  detective, 
am  at  least  a  factor  of  more  or  less  importance  in  an 
inquiry  like  this)  were  awaiting  the  action  of  a  weak 
and  suffering  girl  to  discover  what  our  own  experi 
ence  should  be  able  to  obtain  for  us  unassisted. 

That  Mr.  Gryce  felt  that  he  was  playing  a  great 
card  in  thus  enlisting  her  despair  in  our  service,  did 
not  comfort  me.  I  am  not  fond  of  games  in  which 
real  hearts  take  the  place  of  painted  ones;  and,  be 
sides,  I  was  not  ready  to  acknowledge  that  my  own 
capacity  for  ferreting  out  this  mystery  was  quite  ex 
hausted,  or  that  I  ought  to  remain  idle  while  Lucetta 
bent  under  a  task  so  much  beyond  her  strength.  So 
deeply  was  I  impressed  by  this  latter  consideration, 
that  I  found  myself,  even  in  the  midst  of  my  appar 
ent  interest  in  what  was  going  on  at  Mother  Jane's 
cottage,  asking  if  I  was  bound  to  accept  the  defeat 
pronounced  upon  my  efforts  by  Mr.  Gryce,  and  if 


THE  BIRDS  OF    THE   AIR  321 

there  was  not  yet  time  to  retrieve  myself  and  save 
Lucetta.  One  happy  thought,  or  clever  linking  of 
cause  to  effect,  might  lead  me  yet  to  the  clue  which 
we  had  hitherto  sought  in  vain.  And  then  who 
would  have  more  right  to  triumph  than  Amelia 
Butterworth,  or  who  more  reason  to  apologize  than 
Ebenezar  Gryce !  But  where  was  I  to  get  my  happy 
thought,  and  by  what  stroke  of  fortune  could  I 
reasonably  hope  to  light  upon  a  clue  which  had  es 
caped  the  penetrating  eye  of  my  quondam  colleague  ? 
Lucetta's  gesture  ajid  Lucetta's  exclamation,  "  He 
passed  that  way!"  indicated  that  her  suspicions 
pointed  in  the  direction  of  Deacon  Spear's  cottage; 
so  did  William's  wandering  accusations:  but  this 
was  little  help  to  me,  confined  as  I  was  to  the 
Knollys  demesnes,  both  by  Mr.  Gryce's  command 
and  by  my  own  sense  of  propriety.  No,  I  must 
light  on  something  more  tangible;  something  prac 
tical  enough  to  justify  me  in  my  own  eyes  for  any 
interference  I  might  meditate.  In  short,  I  must 
start  from  a  fact,  and  not  from  a  suspicion.  But 
what  fact  ?  Why,  there  was  but  one,  and  that  was 
the  finding  of  certain  indisputable  tokens  of  crime 
in  Mother  Jane's  keeping.  That  was  a  clue,  a  clue, 
to  be  sure,  which  Mr.  Gryce,  while  ostensibly  fol 
lowing  it  in  his  present  action,  really  felt  to  lead 
nowhere,  but  which  I —  Here  my  thoughts  paused. 
I  dare  not  promise  myself  too  satisfactory  results  to 
my  efforts,  even  while  conscious  of  that  vague 


322  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

elation  which  presages  success,  and  which  I  could 
only  overcome  by  resorting  again  to  reasoning. 
This  time  I  started  with  a  question.  Had  Mother 
Jane  committed  these  crimes  herself  ?  I  did  not 
think  so ;  neither  did  Mr.  Gryce,  for  all  the  persist 
ence  he  showed  in  having  the  ground  about  her 
humble  dwelling-place  turned  over.  Then,  how 
had  the  ring  of  Mr.  Chittenden  come  to  be  in  her 
possession,  when,  as  all  agreed,  she  never  was  known 
to  wander  more  than  forty  rods  away  from  home  ? 
If  the  crime  by  which  this  young  gentleman  had 
perished  had  taken  place  up  the  road,  as  Lucetta's 
denouncing  finger  plainly  indicated,  then  this  token 
of  Mother  Jane's  complicity  in  it  had  been  carried 
across  the  intervening  space  by  other  means  than 
Mother  Jane  herself.  In  other  words,  it  was  brought 
to  her  by  the  perpetrator,  or  it  was  placed  where 
she- could  lay  hand  on  it;  neither  supposition  im 
plying  guilt  on  her  part,  she  being  in  all  probability 
as  innocent  of  wrong  as  she  was  of  sense.  At  all 
events,  such  should  be  my  theory  for  the  nonce,  old 
theories  having  exploded  or  become  of  little  avail  in 
the  present  aspect  of  things.  To  discover,  then, 
the  source  of  crime,  I  must  discover  the  means  by 
which  this  ring  reached  Mother  Jane — an  almost 
hopeless  task,  but  not  to  be  despaired  of  on  that 
account :  had  I  not  wrung  the  truth  in  times  gone 
by  from  that  piece  of  obstinate  stolidity  the  Van 
Burnam  scrub-woman  ?  and  if  I  could  do  this,  might 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  323 

I  not  hope  to  win  an  equal  confidence  from  this 
half-demented  creature,  with  a  heart  so  passionate 
it  beat  to  but  one  tune,  her  Lizzie  ?  I  meant  at 
least  to  try,  and,  under  the  impulse  of  this  resolve, 
I  left  my  position  at  the  gate  and  recrossed  the  road 
to  Mother  Jane,  whose  figure  I  could  dimly  discern 
on  the  farther  side  of  her  little  house. 

Mr.  Gryce  barely  looked  up  as  I  passed  him,  and 
the  men  not  at  all.  They  were  deep  in  their  work, 
and  probably  did  not  see  me.  Neither  did  Mother 
Jane  at  first.  She  had  not  yet  wearied  of  the  shining 
gold  she  held,  though  she  had  begun  again  upon  that 
chanting  of  numbers  the  secret  of  which  Mr.  Gryce 
had  discovered  in  his  investigation  of  her  house. 

I  therefore  found  it  hard  to  make  her  hear  me 
when  I  attempted  to  speak.  She  had  fixed  upon 
the  new  number  fifteen  and  seemed  never  to  tire 
of  repeating  it.  At  last  I  took  cue  from  her  speech, 
and  shouted  out  the  word  ten.  It  was  the  number 
of  the  vegetable  in  which  Mr.  Chittenden's  ring  had 
been  hidden,  and  it  made  her  start  violently. 

"Ten!  ten!"  I  reiterated,  catching  her  eye. 
"  He  who  brought  it  has  carried  it  away;  come 
into  the  house  and  look." 

It  was  a  desperate  attempt.  I  felt  myself  quake 
inwardly  as  I  realized  how  near  Mr.  Gryce  was 
standing,  and  what  his  anger  would  be  if  he  sur 
prised  me  at  this  move  after  he  had  cried  "  Halt !  " 

But  neither  my  own  perturbation  nor  the  thought 


324  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

of  his  possible  anger  could  restrain  the  spirit  of  in 
vestigation  which  had  returned  to  me  with  the  above 
words;  and  when  I  saw  that  they  had  not  fallen 
upon  deaf  ears,  but  that  Mother  Jane  heard  and  in 
a  measure  understood  them,  I  led  the  way  into  the 
hut  and  pointed  to  the  string  from  which  the  one 
precious  vegetable  had  been  torn. 

She  gave  a  spring  toward  it  that  was  wellnigh 
maniacal  in  its  fury,  and  for  an  instant  I  thought 
she  was  going  to  rend  the  air  with  one  of  her  wild 
yells,  when  there  came  a  swishing  of  wings  at  one 
of  the  open  windows,  and  a  dove  flew  in  and  nestled 
in  her  breast,  diverting  her  attention  so,  that  she 
dropped  the  empty  husk  of  the  onion  she  had  just 
grasped  and  seized  the  bird  in  its  stead.  It  was  a 
violent  clutch,  so  violent  that  the  poor  dove  panted 
and  struggled  under  it  till  its  head  flopped  over  and 
I  looked  to  see  it  die  in  her  hands. 

"  Stop!"  I  cried,  horrified  at  a  sight  I  was  so 
unprepared  to  expect  from  one  who  was  supposed 
to  cherish  these  birds  most  tenderly. 

But  she  heard  me  no  more  than  she  saw  the 
gesture  of  indignant  appeal  I  made  her.  All  her 
attention,  as  well  as  all  her  fury,  was  fixed  upon  the 
dove,  over  whose  neck  and  under  whose  wings  she 
ran  her  trembling  fingers  with  the  desperation  of 
one  looking  for  something  he  failed  to  find. 

"  Ten !  ten !  "  it  was  now  her  turn  to  shout,  as  her 
eyes  passed  in  angry  menace  from  the  bird  to  the 


THE   BIRDS   OF   THE  AIR  325 

empty  husk  that  dangled  over  her  head.  '  You 
brought  it,  did  you,  and  you  've  taken  it,  have  you  ? 
There,  then !  You  '11  never  bring  or  carry  any 
more!"  And  lifting  up  her  hand,  she  flung  the 
bird  to  the  other  side  of  the  room,  and  would  have 
turned  upon  me,  in  which  contingency  I  would  for 
once  have  met  my  match,  if,  in  releasing  the  bird 
from  her  hands,  she  had  not  at  the  same  time  re 
leased  the  coin  which  she  had  hitherto  managed  to 
hold  through  all  her  passionate  gestures. 

The  sight  of  this  piece  of  gold,  which  she  had 
evidently  forgotten  for  the  moment,  turned  her 
thoughts  back  to  the  joys  it  promised  her.  Recap 
turing  it  once  more,  she  sank  again  into  her  old 
ecstasy,  upon  which  I  proceeded  to  pick  up  the 
poor,  senseless  dove,  and  leave  the  hut  with  a  de 
vout  feeling  of  gratitude  for  my  undoubted  escape. 

That  I  did  this  quietly  and  with  the  dove  hidden 
under  my  little  cape,  no  one  who  knows  me  well 
will  doubt.  I  had  brought  something  from  the  hut 
besides  this  victim  of  the  old  imbecile's  fury,  and  I 
was  no  more  willing  that  Mr.  Gryce  should  see  the 
one  than  detect  the  other.  I  had  brought  away  a  clue. 
'  The  birds  of  the  air  shall  carry  it."  So  the 
Scripture  runs.  This  bird,  this  pigeon,  who  now 
lay  panting  out  his  life  in  my  arms  had  brought  her 
the  ring  which  in  Mr.  Gryce's  eyes  had  seemed  to 
connect  her  with  the  disappearance  of  young  Mr. 
Chittenden. 


XXXVI 

AN   HOUR   OF   STARTLING   EXPERIENCES 

NOT  till  I  was  safely  back  in  the  Knollys  grounds, 
not,  indeed,  till  I  had  put  one  or  two  large 
and  healthy  shrubs  between  me  and  a  certain  pair 
of  very  prying  eyes,  did  I  bring  the  dove  out  from 
under  my  cape  and  examine  the  poor  bird  for  any 
sign  which  might  be  of  help  to  me  in  the  search  to 
which  I  was  newly  committed. 

But  I  found  nothing,  and  was  obliged  to  resort  to 
my  old  plan  of  reasoning  to  make  anything  out  of 
the  situation  in  which  I  thus  so  unexpectedly  found 
myself.  The  dove  had  brought  the  ring  into  old 
Mother  Jane's  hands,  but  whence  and  through 
whose  agency  ?  This  was  as  much  a  secret  as  be 
fore,  but  the  longer  I  contemplated  it,  the  more  I 
realized  that  it  need  not  remain  a  secret  long;  that 
we  had  simply  to  watch  the  other  doves,  note  where 
they  lighted,  and  in  whose  barn-doors  they  were 
welcome,  for  us  to  draw  inferences  that  might  lead 
to  revelations  before  the  day  was  out.  If  Deacon 
Spear —  But  Deacon  Spear's  house  had  been  ex 
amined  as  well  as  that  of  every  other  resident  in  the 

326 


THE   BIRDS   OF    THE  AIR  $2? 

lane.  This  I  knew,  but  it  had  not  been  examined 
by  me,  and  unwilling  as  I  was  to  challenge  the  ac 
curacy  or  thoroughness  of  a  search  led  on  by  such  a 
man  as  Mr.  Gryce,  I  could  not  but  feel  that,  with 
such  a  hint  as  I  had  received  from  the  episode  in 
the  hut,  it  would  be  a  great  relief  to  my  mind  to 
submit  these  same  premises  to  my  own  somewhat 
penetrating  survey,  no  man  in  my  judgment  having 
the  same  quickness  of  eyesight  in  matters  domestic 
as  a  woman  trained  to  know  every  inch  of  a  house 
and  to  measure  by  a  hair's-breadth  every  fall  of 
drapery  within  it. 

But  how  in  the  name  of  goodness  was  I  to  obtain 
an  opportunity  for  this  survey.  Had  we  not  one 
and  all  been  bidden  to  confine  our  attention  to  what 
was  going  on  in  Mother  Jane's  cottage,  and  would 
it  not  be  treason  to  Lucetta  to  run  the  least  risk  of 
awakening  apprehension  in  any  possibly  guilty  mind 
at  the  other  end  of  the  road  ?  Yes,  but  for  all  that 
I  could  not  keep  still  if  fate,  or  my  own  ingenuity, 
offered  me  the  least  chance  of  pursuing  the  clue  I 
had  wrung  from  our  imbecile  neighbor  at  the  risk  of 
my  life.  It  was  not  in  my  nature  to  do  so,  any 
more  than  it  was  in  my  nature  to  yield  up  my 
present  advantage  to  Mr.  Gryce  without  making  a 
personal  effort  to  utilize  it.  I  forgot  that  I  failed  in 
this  once  before  in  my  career,  or  rather  I  recalled 
this  failure,  perhaps,  and  felt  the  great  need  of  re 
trieving  myself. 


328  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

When,  therefore,  in  my  slow  stroll  towards  the 
house  I  encountered  William  in  the  shrubbery,  I 
could  not  forbear  accosting  him  with  a  question  or 
two. 

'  William,"  I  remarked,  gently  rubbing  the  side 
of  my  nose  with  an  irresolute  forefinger  and  looking 
at  him  from  under  my  lids,  "  that  was  a  scurvy  trick 
you  played  Deacon  Spear  yesterday." 

He  stood  amazed,  then  burst  into  one  of  his  loud 
laughs. 

"You  think  so?"  he  cried.  "Well,  I  don't. 
He  only  got  what  he  deserved,  the  hard,  sancti 
monious  sneak!  " 

"  Do  you  say  that,"  I  inquired,  with  some  spirit, 
"  because  you  dislike  the  man,  or  because  you  really 
believe  him  to  be  worthy  of  hatred  ?  " 

William's  amusement  at  this  argued  little  for  my 
hopes. 

"  We  are  very  much  interested  in  the  Deacon,'* 
he  suggested,  with  a  leer;  which  insolence  I  al 
lowed  to  pass  unnoticed,  because  it  best  suited  my 
plan. 

'  You  have  not  answered  my  question,"  I  re 
marked,  with  a  forced  air  of  anxiety. 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  cried,  "  so  I  have  n't  ";  and  he 
tried  to  look  serious  too.  "  Well,  well,  to  be  just, 
I  have  nothing  really  against  the  man  but  his  mean 
ways.  Still,  if  I  were  going  to  risk  my  life  on  a 
hazard  as  to  who  is  the  evil  spirit  of  this  lane,  I 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE   AIR  329 

should  say  Spear  and  done  with  it,  he  has  such 
cursed  small  eyes." 

"  /  don't  think  his  eyes  are  too  small,"  I  re 
turned  loftily.  Then  with  a  sudden  change  of 
manner,  I  suggested  anxiously:  "  And  my  opinion 
is  shared  by  your  sisters.  They  evidently  think 
very  well  of  him." 

"  Oh!  "  he  sneered;  "  girls  are  no  judges.  They 
don't  know  a  good  man  when  they  see  him,  and 
they  don't  know  a  bad.  You  must  n't  go  by  what 
they  say." 

I  had  it  on  the  tip  of  my  tongue  to  ask  if  he  did 
not  think  Lucetta  sufficiently  understood  herself  to 
be  trusted  in  what  she  contemplated  doing  that 
night.  But  this  was  neither  in  accordance  with  my 
plan,  nor  did  it  seem  quite  loyal  to  Lucetta,  who, 
so  far  as  I  knew,  had  not  communicated  her  inten 
tions  to  this  booby  brother.  I  therefore  changed 
this  question  into  a  repetition  of  my  first  remark: 

"  Well,  I  still  think  the  trick  you  played  Deacon 
Spear  yesterday  a  poor  one ;  and  I  advise  you,  as  a 
gentleman,  to  go  and  ask  his  pardon." 

This  was  such  a  preposterous  proposition,  he 
could  not  hold  his  peace. 

"  I  ask  his  pardon  /  "  he  snorted.  "  Well,  Saracen, 
did  you  ever  hear  the  like  of  that!  /ask  Deacon 
Spear's  pardon  for  obliging  him  to  be  treated  with 
as  great  attention  as  I  had  been  myself." 

"  If  you  do  not,"  I  went  on,  unmoved,  "  I  shall 


330  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

%go  and  do  it  myself.  I  think  that  is  what  my 
friendship  for  you  warrants.  I  am  determined  that 
while  I  am  a  visitor  in  your  house  no  one  shall  be 
able  to  pick  a  flaw  in  your  conduct." 

He  stared  (as  he  might  well  do),  tried  to  read  my 
face,  then  my  intentions,  and  failing  to  do  both, 
which  was  not  strange,  broke  into  noisy  mirth. 

"  Oh,  ho !  "  he  laughed.  "  So  that  is  your  game, 
is  it!  Well,  I  never!  Saracen,  Miss  Butterworth 
wants  to  reform  me ;  wants  to  make  one  of  her  sleek 
city  chaps  out  of  William  Knollys.  She  '11  have 
hard  work  of  it,  won't  she  ?  But  then  we  Jre  begin 
ning  to  like  her  well  enough  to  let  her  try.  Miss 
Butterworth,  I  '11  go  with  you  to  Deacon  Spear.  I 
have  n't  had  so  much  chance  for  fun  in  a  twelve 
month." 

I  had  not  expected  such  success,  and  was  duly 
thankful.  But  I  made  no  reference  to  it  aloud. 
On  the  contrary,  I  took  his  complaisance  as  a  matter 
of  course,  'and,  hiding  all  token  of  triumph,  sug 
gested  quietly  that  we  should  make  as  little  ado  as 
possible  over  our  errand,  seeing  that  Mr.  Gryce  was 
something  of  a  meddler  and  might  take  it  into  his 
head  to  interfere.  Which  suggestion  had  all  the 
effect  I  anticipated,  for  at  the  double  prospect  of 
amusing  himself  at  the  Deacon's  expense,  and  of 
outwitting  the  man  whose  business  it  was  to  outwit 
us,  he  became  not  only  willing  but  eager  to  under 
take  the  adventure  offered  him.  So  with  the  under- 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE  AIR  331 

standing  that  I  was  to  be  ready  to  drive  into  town 
as  soon  as  he  could  hitch  up  the  horse,  we  parted 
on  the  most  amicable  terms,  he  proceeding  towards 
the  stable  and  I  towards  the  house,  where  I  hoped 
to  learn  something  new  about  Lucetta. 

But  Loreen,  from  whom  alone  I  could  hope  to 
glean  any  information,  was  shut  in  her  room,  and 
did  not  come  out,  though  I  called  her  more  than 
once,  which,  if  it  left  my  curiosity  unsatisfied,  at 
least  allowed  me  to  quit  the  house  without  awaken 
ing  hers. 

William  was  waiting  for  me  at  the  gate  when  I 
descended.  He  was  in  the  best  of  humors,  and 
helped  me  into  the  buggy  he  had  resurrected  from 
some  corner  of  the  old  stable,  with  a  grimace  of 
suppressed  mirth  which  argued  well  for  the  peace  of 
our  proposed  drive.  The  horse's  head  was  turned 
away  from  the  quarter  we  were  bound  for,  but  as 
we  were  ostensibly  on  our  way  to  the  village,  this 
showed  but  common  prudence  on  William's  part, 
and,  as  such,  met  with  my  entire  approbation. 

Mr.  Gryce  and  his  men  were  hard  at  work  when 
we  passed  them.  Knowing  the  detective  so  well, 
and  rating  at  its  full  value  his  undoubted  talent  for 
reading  the  motives  of  those  about  him,  I  made  no 
attempt  at  cajolery  in  the  explanation  I  proffered 
of  our  sudden  departure,  but  merely  said,  in  my 
old,  peremptory  way,  that  I  found  waiting  at  the 
gate  so  tedious  that  I  had  accepted  William's  invi- 


332  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

tation  to  drive  into  town.  Which,  while  it  aston 
ished  the  old  gentleman,  did  not  really  arouse  his 
suspicions,  as  a  more  conciliatory  manner  and  speech 
might  have  done.  This  disposed  of,  we  drove 
rapidly  away. 

William's  sense  of  humor  once  aroused  was  not 
easily  allayed.  He  seemed  so  pleased  with  his 
errand  that  he  could  talk  of  nothing  else,  and  turned 
the  subject  over  and  over  in  his  clumsy  way,  till  I 
began  to  wonder  if  he  had  seen  through  the  object 
of  our  proposed  visit  and  was  making  me  the  butt 
of  his  none  too  brilliant  wit. 

But  no,  he  was  really  amused  at  the  part  he  was 
called  upon  to  play,  and,  once  convinced  of  this,  I 
let  his  humor  run  on  without  check  till  we  had  re- 
entered  Lost  Man's  Lane  from  the  other  end  and 
were  in  sight  of  the  low  sloping  roof  of  Deacon 
Spear's  old-fashioned  farmhouse. 

Then  I  thought  it  time  to  speak. 
'  William,"  said  I,  "  Deacon  Spear  is  too  good  a 
man,  and,  as  I  take  it,  is  in  possession  of  too  great 
worldly  advantages  for  you  to  be  at  enmity  with 
him.  Remember  that  he  is  a  neighbor,  and  that 
you  are  a  landed  proprietor  in  this  lane." 

Good  for  you!"  was  the  elegant  reply  with 
which  this  young  boor  honored  me.  "  I  did  n't 
think  you  had  such  an  eye  for  the  main  chance." 

Deacon  Spear  is  rich,  is  he  not  ?"  I  pursued, 
with  an  ulterior  motive  he  was  far  from  suspecting. 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  333 

"  Rich  ?  Why,  I  don't  know;  that  depends  upon 
what  you  city  ladies  call  rich;  /should  n't  call  him 
so,  but  then,  as  you  say,  I  am  a  landed  proprietor 
myself." 

His  laugh  was  boisterously  loud,  and  as  we  were 
then  nearly  in  front  of  the  Deacon's  house,  it  rang 
in  through  the  open  windows,  causing  such  surprise, 
that  more  than  one  head  bobbed  up  from  within  to 
see  who  dared  to  laugh  like  that  in  Lost  Man's  Lane. 
While  I  noted  these  heads  and  various  other  small 
matters  about  the  house  and  place,  William  tied  up 
the  horse  and  held  out  his  hand  for  me  to  descend. 
I  begin  to  suspect,"  he  whispered  as  he  helped 
me  out,  "  why  you  are  so  anxious  to  have  me  on 
good  terms  with  the  Deacon."  At  which  insinua 
tion  I  attempted  to  smile,  but  only  succeeded  in 
forcing  a  grim  twitch  or  two  to  my  lips,  for  at  that 
moment  and  before  I  could  take  one  step  towards 
the  house,  a  couple  of  pigeons  rose  up  from  behind 
the  house  and  flew  away  in  a  bee-line  for  Mother 
Jane's  cottage. 

Ha!  "  thought  I;  "  my  instinct  has  not  failed 
me.  Behold  the  link  between  this  house  and  the 
hut  in  which  those  tokens  of  crime  were  found," 
and  was  for  the  moment  so  overwhelmed  by  this 
confirmation  of  my  secret  suspicions,  that  I  quite 
forgot  to  advance,  and  stood  stupidly  staring  after 
these  birds  now  rapidly  disappearing  in  the  distance. 

William's  voice  aroused  me. 


334  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"Come!"  he  cried.  "Don't  be  bashful.  I 
don't  think  much  of  Deacon  Spear  myself,  but  if 
you  do —  Why,  what  's  the  matter  now?"  he 
asked,  with  a  startled  look  at  me.  I  had  clutched 
him  by  the  arm. 

"  Nothing,"  I  protested,  "  only — you  see  that 
window  over  there  ?  The  one  in  the  gable  of  the 
barn,  I  mean.  I  thought  I  saw  a  hand  thrust  out, 
— a  white  hand  that  dropped  crumbs.  Have  they 
a  child  on  this  place  ?  " 

"  No,"  replied  William,  in  an  odd  voice  and  with 
an  odd  look  toward  the  window  I  have  mentioned. 
"  Did  you  really  see  a  hand  there  ?  " 

"  I  most  certainly  did,"  I  answered,  with  an  air 
of  indifference  I  was  far  from  feeling.  "  Some  one 
is  up  in  the  hay-loft ;  perhaps  it  is  Deacon  Spear 
himself.  If  so,  he  will  have  to  come  down,  for  now 
that  we  are  here,  I  am  determined  you  shall  do 
your  duty." 

"  Deacon  Spear  can't  climb  that  hay-loft,"  was 
the  perplexed  answer  I  received  in  a  hardly  intel 
ligible  mutter.  "  I  've  been  there,  and  I  know; 
only  a  boy  or  a  very  agile  young  man  could  crawl 
along  the  beams  that  lead  to  that  window.  It  is 
the  one  hiding-place  in  this  part  of  the  lane;  and 
when  I  said  yesterday  that  if  I  were  the  police  and 
had  the  same  search  to  make  which  they  have,  I 
knew  where  I  would  look,  I  meant  that  same  little 
platform  up  behind  the  hay,  whose  only  outlook  is 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  335 

yonder  window.  But  I  forgot  that  you  have  no 
suspicions  of  our  good  Deacon ;  that  you  are  here  on 
quite  a  different  errand  than  to  search  for  Silly 
Rufus.  So  come  along  and— 

But  I  resisted  his  impelling  hand.  He  was  so 
much  in  earnest  and  so  evidently  under  the  excite 
ment  of  what  appeared  to  him  a  great  discovery, 
that  he  seemed  quite  another  man.  This  made  my 
own  suspicions  less  hazardous,  and  also  added  to 
the  situation  fresh  difficulties  which  could  only  be 
met  by  an  appearance  on  my  part  of  perfect  ingenu 
ousness. 

Turning  back  to  the  buggy  as  if  I  had  forgotten 
something,  and  thus  accounting  to  any  one  who 
might  be  watching  us,  for  the  delay  we  showed  in 
entering  the  house,  I  said  to  William:  "  You  have 
reasons  for  thinking  this  man  a  villain,  or  you 
would  n't  be  so  ready  to  suspect  him.  Now  what  if  I 
should  tell  you  that  I  agree  with  you,  and  that  this 
is  why  I  have  dragged  you  here  this  fine  morning  ?  " 
I  should  say  you  were  a  deuced  smart  woman," 
was,  his  ready  (  answer.  "  But  what  can  you  do 
here  ?  " 

What  have  we  already  done  ?  "  I  asked.  '  Dis 
covered  that  they  have  some  one  in  hiding  in  what 
you  call  an  inaccessible  place  in  the  barn.  But 
did  n't  the  police  examine  the  whole  place  yester 
day  ?  They  certainly  told  me  they  had  searched  the 
premises  thoroughly." 


336  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

1  Yes,"  he  repeated,  with  great  disdain,  "  they 
said  and  they  said ;  but  they  did  n't  climb  up  to  the 
one  hiding-place  in  sight.  That  old  fellow  Gryce 
declared  it  was  n't  worth  their  while;  that  only 
birds  could  reach  that  loophole." 

"  Oh,"  I  returned,  somewhat  taken  aback;  "  you 
called  his  attention  to  it,  then  ?  " 

To  which  William  answered  with  a  vigorous  nod 
and  the  grumbling  words: 

!<  I  don't  believe  in  the  police.  I  think  they  're 
often  in  league  with  the  very  rogues  they— 

But  here  the  necessity  of  approaching  the  house 
became  too  apparent  for  further  delay.  Deacon 
Spear  had  shown  himself  at  the  front  door,  and  the 
sight  of  his  astonished  face  twisted  into  a  grimace 
of  doubtful  welcome  drove  every  other  thought 
away  than  how  we  were  to  acquit  ourselves  in  the 
coming  interview.  Seeing  that  William  was  more 
or  less  nonplussed  by  the  situation,  I  caught  him  by 
the  arm,  and  whispering,  "  Let  us  keep  to  our  first 
programme,"  led  him  up  the  walk  with  much  the 
air  of  a  triumphant  captain  bringing  in  a  recalcitrant 
prisoner. 

My  introduction  under  these  circumstances  can 
be  imagined  by  those  who  have  followed  William's 
awkward  ways.  But  the  Deacon,  who  was  probably 
the  most  surprised,  if  not  the  most  disconcerted  mem 
ber  of  the  group,  possessed  a  natural  fund  of  conceit 
and  self-complacency  that  prevented  any  outward 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  337 

manifestation  of  his  feelings,  though  I  could  not  help 
detecting  a  carefully  suppressed  antagonism  in  his 
eye  when  he  allowed  it  to  fall  upon  William,  which 
warned  me  to  exercise  my  full  arts  in  the  manipula 
tion  of  the  matter  before  me.  I  accordingly  spoke 
first  and  with  all  the  prim  courtesy  such  a  man 
might  naturally  expect  from  an  intruder  of  my  sex 
and  appearance. 

"  Deacon  Spear,"  said  I,  as  soon  as  we  were 
seated  in  his  stiff  old-fashioned  parlor,  "  you  are 
astonished  to  see  us  here,  no  doubt,  especially  after 
the  display  of  animosity  shown  towards  you  yester 
day  by  this  graceless  young  friend  of  mine.  But  it 
is  on  account  of  this  unfortunate  occurrence  that 
we  are  here.  After  a  little  reflection  and  a  few 
hints,  I  may  add,  from  one  who  has  seen  more  of 
life  than  himself,  William  felt  that  he  had  cause  to 
be  ashamed  of  himself  for  his  show  of  sport  in  yester 
day's  proceedings,  and  accordingly  he  has  come  in 
my  company  to  tender  his  apologies  and  entreat  your 
forbearance.  Am  I  not  right,  William  ?" 

The  fellow  is  a  clown  under  all  and  every  circum 
stance,  and  serious  as  our  real  purpose  was,  and 
dreadful  as  was  the  suspicion  he  professed  to  cherish 
against  the  suave  and  seemingly  respectable  member 
of  the  community  we  were  addressing,  he  could  not 
help  laughing,  as  he  blunderingly  replied  : 

'  That  you  are,  Miss  Butterworth  !     She  's  always 
right,    Deacon.      I   did  act  like  a  fool  yesterday." 


338  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

And  seeming  to  think  that,  with  this  one  sentence 
he  had  played  his  part  out  to  perfection,  he  jumped 
up  and  strolled  out  of  the  house,  almost  pushing 
down  as  he  did  so  the  two  daughters  of  the  house, 
who  had  crept  into  the  hall  from  the  sitting-room  to 
listen. 

'  Well,  well!  "  exclaimed  the  Deacon,  "  you  have 
d^ne  wonders,  Miss  Butterworth,  to  bring  him  to 
even  so  small  an  acknowledgment  as  that!  He  's  a 
vicious  one,  is  William  Knollys,  and  if  /  were  not 
such  a  lover  of  peace  and  concord,  he  should  not 
long  be  the  only  aggressive  one.  But  /  have  no 
taste  for  strife,  and  so  you  may  both  regard  his 
apology  as  accepted.  But  why  do  you  rise,  madam  ? 
Sit  down,  I  pray,  and  let  me  do  the  honors.  Martha ! 
Jemima!  " 

But  I  would  not  allow  him  to  summon  his  daugh 
ters.  The  man  inspired  me  with  too  much  dislike, 
if  not  fear;  besides,  I  was  anxious  about  William. 
What  was  he  doing,  and  of  what  blunder  might  he 
not  be  guilty  without  my  judicious  guidance  ? 

"  I  am  obliged  to  you,"  I  returned;  "  but  I  can 
not  wait  to  meet  your  daughters  now.  Another 
time,  Deacon.  There  is  important  business  going  on 
at  the  other  end  of  the  lane,  and  William's  presence 
there  may  be  required." 

"  Ah,"  he  observed,  following  me  to  the  door, 
"  they  are  digging  up  Mother  Jane's  garden." 

I  nodded,  restraining  myself  with  difficulty. 


THE  BIRDS   OF    THE  AIR  339 

"Fool's  work!"  he  muttered.  Then  with  a 
curious  look  which  made  me  instinctively  draw  back, 
he  added,  "  These  things  must  inconvenience  you, 
madam.  I  wish  you  had  made  your  visit  to  the 
lane  in  happier  times." 

There  was  a  smirk  on  his  face  which  made  him 
positively  repellent.  I  could  scarcely  bow  my  ac 
knowledgments,  his  look  and  attitude  made  the  in 
terview  so  obnoxious.  Looking  about  for  William, 
I  stepped  down  from  the  stoop.  The  Deacon  fol 
lowed  me. 

11  Where  is  William  ?  "  I  asked. 

The  Deacon  ran  his  eye  over  the  place,  and  sud 
denly  frowned  with  ill-concealed  vexation. 

"  The  scapegrace  !  "  he  murmured.  "  What 
business  has  he  in  my  barn  ?" 

I  immediately  forced  a  smile  which,  in  days  long 
past  (I  've  almost  forgotten  them  now),  used  to  do 
some  execution. 

"  Oh,  he  's  a  boy !  "  I  exclaimed.  "  Do  not  mind 
his  pranks,  I  pray.  What  a  comfortable  place  you 
have  here!  " 

Instantly  a  change  passed  over  the  Deacon,  and 
he  turned  to  me  with  an  air  of  great  interest,  broken 
now  and  then  by  an  uneasy  glance  behind  him  at 
the  barn. 

I  am  glad  you  like  the  place,"  he  insinuated, 
keeping  close  at  my  side  as  I  stepped  somewhat 
briskly  down  the  walk.  "  It  is  a  nice  place,  worthy 


340  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

of  the  commendation  of  so  competent  a  judge  as 
yourself."  (It  was  a  barren,  hard-worked  farm, 
without  one  attractive  feature.)  "  I  have  lived  on 
it  now  forty  years,  thirty-two  of  them  with  my  be 
loved  wife  Caroline,  and  two — "  Here  he  stopped 
and  wiped  a  tear  from  the  dryest  eye  I  ever  saw. 
"  Miss  Butterworth,  I  am  a  widower." 

I  hastened  my  steps.  I  here  duly  and  with  the 
strictest  regard  for  the  truth  aver,  that  I  decidedly 
hastened  my  steps  at  this  very  unnecessary  an 
nouncement.  But  he,  with  another  covert  glance 
behind  him  towards  the  barn,  from  which,  to  my 
surprise  and  increasing  anxiety,  William  had  not  yet 
emerged,  kept  well  up  to  me,  and  only  paused  when 
I  paused  at  the  side  of  the  road  near  the  buggy. 

Miss  Butterworth,"  he  began,  undeterred  by 
the  air  o-f  dignity  I  assumed,  "  I  have  been  thinking 
that  your  visit  here  is  a  rebuke  to  my  unneighborli- 
ness.  But  the  business  which  has  occupied  the  lane 
these  last  few  days  has  put  us  all  into  such  a  state 
of  unpleasantness  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt 
sociability." 

His  voice  was  so  smooth,  his  eyes  so  small  and 
twinkling,  that  if  I  could  have  thought  of  anything 
except  William's  possible  discoveries  in  the  barn,  I 
should  have  taken  delight  in  measuring  my  wits 
against  his  egotism. 

But  as  it  was,  I  said  nothing,  possibly  because  I 
only  half  heard  what  he  was  saying. 


THE  BIRDS   OF    THE   AIR  341 

"I  am  no  lady's  man," — these  were  the  next  words 
I  heard,—  "  but  then  I  judge  you  're  not  anxious  for 
flattery,  but  prefer  the  square  thing  uttered  by 
a  square  man  without  delay  or  circumlocution. 
Madam,  I  am  fifty-three,  and  I  have  been  a  widower 
two  years.  I  am  not  fitted  for  a  solitary  life,  and  I 
am  fitted  for  the  companionship  of  an  affectionate 
wife  who  will  keep  my  hearth  clean  and  my  affections 
in  good  working  order.  Will  you  be  that  wife  ? 
You  see  my  home," — here  his  eye  stole  behind  him 
with  that  uneasy  look  towards  the  barn  which  Wil 
liam's  presence  in  it  certainly  warranted,—  "  a  home 
which  I  can  offer  you  unencumbered,  if  you— 

Desire  to  live  in  Lost  Man's  Lane,"  I  put  in, 
subduing  both  my  surprise  and  my  disgust  at  this 
preposterous  proposal,  in  order  to  throw  all  the 
sarcasm  of  which  I  was  capable  into  this  single  sen 
tence. 

"Oh!"  he  exclaimed,  "you  don't  like  the 
neighborhood.  Well,  we  could  go  elsewhere.  I  am 
not  set  against  the  city  myself— 

Astounded  at  his  presumption,  regarding  him  as 
a  possible  criminal,  who  was  endeavoring  to  beguile 
me  for  purposes  of  his  own,  I  could  no  longer  re 
press  either  my  indignation  or  the  wrath  with  which 
such  impromptu  addresses  naturally  inspired  me. 
Cutting  him  short  with  a  gesture  which  made  him 
open  his  small  eyes,  I  exclaimed  in  continuation  of 
his  remark: 


342  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

Nor,  as  I  take  it,  are  you  set  against  the  com 
fortable  little  income  somebody  has  told  you  I 
possessed.  I  see  your  disinterestedness,  Deacon, 
but  I  should  be  sorry  to  profit  by  it.  Why,  man,  I 
never  spoke  to  you  before  in  my  life,  and  do  you 
think— 

"  Oh!  "  he  suavely  insinuated,  with  a  suppressed 
chuckle  which  even  his  increasing  uneasiness  as  to 
William  could  not  altogether  repress,  "  I  see  you 
are  not  above  the  flattery  that  pleases  other  women. 
Well,  madam,  I  know  a  tremendous  fine  woman 
when  I  see  her,  and  from  the  moment  I  saw  you 
riding  by  the  other  day,  I  made  up  my  mind  I 
would  have  you  for  the  second  Mrs.  Spear,  if  per 
sistence  and  a  proper  advocacy  of  my  cause  could 
accomplish  it.  Madam,  I  was  going  to  visit  you 
with  this  proposal  to-night,  but  seeing  you  here 
the  temptation  was  too  great  for  my  discretion,  and 
so  I  have  addressed  you  on  the  spot.  But  you  need 
not  answer  me  at  once.  I  don't  need  to  know  any 
more  about  you  than  what  I  can  take  in  with  my 
two  eyes,  but  if  you  would  like  a  little  more  ac 
quaintance  with  me,  why  I  can  wait  a  couple  of 
weeks  till  we  've  rubbed  the  edges  off  our  strange 
ness,  when " 

'  When  you  think  I  will  be  so  charmed  with 
Deacon  Spear  that  I  will  be  ready  to  settle  down 
with  him  in  Lost  Man's  Lane,  or  if  that  will  not  do, 
carry  him  off  to  Gramercy  Park,  where  he  will  be 


THE   BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  343 

the  admiration  of  all  New  York  and  Brooklyn  to 
boot.'  Why,  man,  if  I  was  so  easily  satisfied  as  that, 
I  would  not  be  in  a  position  to-day  for  you  to  honor 
me  with  this  proposal.  I  am  not  easy  to  suit,  so  I 
advise  you  to  turn  your  attention  to  some  one  much 
more  anxious  to  be  married  than  I  am.  But  " — and 
here  I  allowed  some  of  my  real  feelings  to  appear 
if  you  value  your  own  reputation  or  the  happi 
ness  of  the  lady  you  propose  to  inveigle  into  an 
union  with  you,  do  not  venture  too  far  in  the  matri 
monial  way  till  the  mystery  is  dispelled  which 
shrouds  Lost  Man's  Lane  in  horror.  If  you  were 
an  honest  man  you  would  ask  no  one  to  share  your 
fortunes  whilst  the  least  doubt  rests  upon  your 
reputation." 

"  My  reputation  ?  "     He  had  started  very  visibly 
at  these  words.      ;<  Madam,   be  careful.      I  admire 

you,  but 

No  offence,"  said  I.  ;<  For  a  stranger  I  have 
been,  perhaps,  unduly  frank.  I  only  mean  that  any 
one  who  lives  in  this  lane  must  feel  himself  more  or 
less  enveloped  by  the  shadow  which  rests  upon  it. 
When  that  is  lifted,  each  and  every  one  of  you  will 
feel  himself  a  man  again.  From  indications  to  be 
seen  in  the  lane  to-day,  that  time  may  not  be  far 
distant.  Mother  Jane  is  a  likely  source  for  the 
mysteries  that  agitate  us.  She  knows  just  enough 
to  have  no  proper  idea  of  the  value  of  a  human  life." 

The  Deacon's  retort  was  instantaneous.     "  Mad- 


344  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

am,"  said  he,  with  a  snap  of  his  fingers,  "  I  have 
not  that  much  interest  in  what  is  going  on  down 
there.  If  men  have  been  killed  in  this  lane  (which 
I  do  not  believe),  old  Mother  Jane  has  had  no  hand 
in  it.  My  opinion  is — and  you  may  value  it  or  not, 
just  as  you  please — that  what  the  people  hereabout 
call  crimes  are  so  many  coincidences,  which  some 
day  or  other  will  receive  their  due  explanation. 
Every  one  who  has  disappeared  in  this  vicinity  has 
disappeared  naturally.  No  one  has  been  killed. 
That  is  my  theory,  and  you  will  find  it  correct.  On 
this  point  I  have  expended  more  than  a  little 
thought." 

I  was  irate.  I  was  also  dumfounded  at  his  auda 
city.  Did  he  think  I  was  the  woman  to  be  deceived 
by  any  such  balderdash  as  that  ?  But  I  shut  my 
lips  tightly  lest  I  should  say  something,  and  he,  not 
finding  this  agreeable,  being  no  conversationalist 
himself,  drew  himself  up  with  a  pompously  expressed 
hope  that  he  would  see  me  again  after  his  reputation 
was  cleared,  when  his  attention  as  well  as  my  own 
was  diverted  by  seeing  William's  slouching  figure 
appear  in  the  barn  door  and  make  slowly  towards  us. 

Instantly  the  Deacon  forgot  me  in  his  interest  in 
William's  approach,  which  was  so  slow  as  to  be 
tantalizing  to  us  both. 

When  he  was  within  speaking  distance,  Deacon 
Spear  started  towards  him. 

"  Well!  "  he  cried;  "  one  would  think  you  had 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  345 

gone  back  a  dozen  or  so  years  and  were  again  rob 
bing  your  neighbor's  hen-roosts.  Been  in  the  hay, 
eh  ?  "  he  added,  leaning  forward  and  plucking  a 
wisp  or  two  from  my  companion's  clothes.  '  Well, 
what  did  you  find  there  ?  " 

In  trembling  fear  for  what  the  lout  might  answer, 
I  put  my  hand  on  the  buggy  rail  and  struggled 
anxiously  to  my  seat.  William  stepped  forward 
and  loosened  the  horse  before  speaking.  Then  with 
a  leer  he  dived  into  his  pocket,  and  remarking 
slowly,  "  I  found  this"  brought  to  light  a  small 
riding-whip  which  we  both  recognized  as  one  he 
often  carried.  "  I  flung  it  up  in  the  hay  yesterday 
in  one  of  my  fits  of  laughing,  so  just  thought  I 
would  bring  it  down  to-day.  You  know  it  is  n't 
the  first  time  I  've  climbed  about  those  rafters,  Dea 
con,  as  you  have  been  good  enough  to  insinuate." 

The  Deacon,  evidently  taken  aback,  eyed  the 
young  fellow  with  a  leer  in  which  I  saw  something 
more  serious  than  mere  suspicion. 

'  Was  that  all  ?  "  he  began,  but  evidently  thought 
better  than  to  finish,  whilst  William,  with  a  non 
chalance  that  surprised  me,  blunderingly  avoided 
his  eye,  and,  bounding  into  the  buggy  beside  me, 
started  up  the  horse  and  drove  slowly  off. 

'  Ta,  ta,  Deacon,"  he  called  back;  "  if  you  want 
to  see  fun,  come  up  to  our  end  of  the  lane;  there  's 
precious  little  here."  And  thus,  with  a  laugh,  ter 
minated  an  interview  which,  all  things  considered, 


346  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

was  the  most  exciting  as  well  as  the  most  humiliat 
ing  I  have  ever  taken  part  in. 

'  William,"  I  began,  but  stopped.  The  two 
pigeons  whose  departure  I  had  watched  a  little  while 
before  were  coming  back,  and,  as  I  spoke,  fluttered 
up  to  the  window  before  mentioned,  where  they 
alighted  and  began  picking  up  the  crumbs  which  I 
had  seen  scattered  for  them.  "  See!  "  I  suddenly 
exclaimed,  pointing  them  out  to  William.  "  Was 
I  mistaken  when  I  thought  I  saw  a  hand  drop  crumbs 
from  that  window  ?  " 

The  answer  was  a  very  grave  one  for  him. 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  for  I  have  seen  more  than  a 
hand,  through  the  loophole  I  made  in  the  hay.  I 
saw  a  man's  leg  stretched  out  as  if  he  were  lying  on 
the  floor  with  his  head  toward  the  window.  It  was 
but  a  glimpse  I  got,  but  the  leg  moved  as  I  looked 
at  it,  and  so  I  know  that  some  one  lies  hid  in  that 
little  nook  up  under  the  roof.  Now  it  is  n't  any  one 
belonging  to  the  lane,  for  I  know  where  every  one 
of  us  is  or  ought  to  be  at  this  blessed  moment ; 
and  it  is  n't  a  detective,  for  I  heard  a  sound  like 
heavy  sobbing  as  I  crouched  there.  Then  who  is 
it  ?  Silly  Rufus,  I  say;  and  if  that  hay  was  all 
lifted,  we  would  see  sights  that  would  make  us 
ashamed  of  the  apologies  we  uttered  to  the  old 
sneak  just  now." 

"  I  want  to  get  home,"  said  I.  "  Drive  fast! 
Your  sisters  ought  to  know  this." 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  347 

The  girls?"  he  cried.  "Yes,  it  will  be  a 
triumph  over  them.  They  never  would  believe  I 
had  an  atom  of  judgment.  But  we  '11  show  them, 
if  William  Knollys  is  altogether  a  fool." 

We  were  now  near  to  Mr.  Trohm's  hospitable 
gateway.  Coming  from  the  excitements  of  my  late 
interview,  it  was  a  relief  to  perceive  the  genial  owner 
of  this  beautiful  place  wandering  among  his  vines 
and  testing  the  condition  of  his  fruit  by  a  careful 
touch  here  and  there.  As  he  heard  our  wheels  he 
turned,  and  seeing  who  we  were,  threw  up  his  hands 
in  ill-restrained  pleasure,  and  came  buoyantly  for 
ward.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  stop,  so  we 
stopped. 

"  Why,  William!  Why,  Miss  Butterworth,  what 
a  pleasure!  "  Such  was  his  amiable  greeting.  '  I 
thought  you  were  all  busy  at  your  end  of  the  lane ; 
but  I  see  you  have  just  come  from  town.  Had  an 
errand  there,  I  suppose  ?  " 

'  Yes,"   William    grumbled,   eying   the   luscious 
pear  Mr.  Trohm  held  in  his  hand. 

The  look  drew  a  smile  from  that  gentleman. 

"Admiring  the  first  fruits  ?  "  he  observed.  "  Well, 
it  is  a  handsome  specimen,"  he  admitted,  handing 
it  to  me  with  his  own  peculiar  grace.  '  I  beg  you 
will  take  it,  Miss  Butterworth.  You  look  tired ; 
pardon  me  if  I  mention  it."  (He  is  the  only  person 
I  know  who  detects  any  signs  of  suffering  or  fatigue 
on  my  part.) 


348  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  I  am  worried  by  the  mysteries  of  this  lane,"  I 
ventured  to  remark.  "  I  hate  to  see  Mother  Jane's 
garden  uprooted." 

"Ah!"  he  acquiesced,  with  much  evidence  of 
good  feeling,  "it  is  a  distressing  thing  to  witness. 
I  wish  she  might  have  been  spared.  William,  there 
are  other  pears  on  the  tree  this  came  from.  Tie  up 
the  horse,  I  pray,  and  gather  a  dozen  or  so  of  these 
for  your  sisters.  They  will  never  be  in  better  con 
dition  for  plucking  than  they  are  to-day." 

William,  whose  mouth  and  eyes  were  both  water 
ing  for  a  taste  of  the  fine  fruit  thus  offered,  moved 
with  alacrity  to  obey  this  invitation,  while  I,  more 
startled  than  pleased — or,  rather,  as  much  startled 
as  pleased — by  the  prospect  of  a  momentary  tete-a- 
t$te  with  our  agreeable  neighbor,  sat  uneasily  eying 
the  luscious  fruit  in  my  hand,  and  wishing  I  was  ten 
years  younger,  that  the  blush  I  felt  slowly  stealing 
up  my  cheek  might  seem  more  appropriate  to  the 
occasion. 

But  Mr.  Trohm  appeared  not  to  share  my  wish. 
He  was  evidently  so  satisfied  with  me  as  I  was,  that 
he  found  it  difficult  to  speak  at  first,  and  when  he 
did —  But  tut !  tut !  you  have  no  desire  to  hear  any 
such  confidences  as  these,  I  am  sure.  A  middle-aged 
gentleman's  expressions  of  admiration  for  a  middle- 
aged  lady  may  savor  of  romance  to  her,  but  hardly 
to  the  rest  of  the  world,  so  I  will  pass  this  conversa 
tion  by,  with  the  single  admission  that  it  ended  in 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE   AIR  349 

a  question  to  which  I  felt  obliged  to  return  a  re 
luctant  No. 

Mr.  Trohm  was  just  recovering  from  the  disap 
pointment  of  this,  when  William  sauntered  back 
with  his  hands  and  pockets  full. 

"Ah!"  that  graceless  scamp  chuckled,  with  a 
suspicious  look  at  our  downcast  faces,  "  been  im 
proving  the  opportunity,  eh  ?  " 

Mr.  Trohm,  who  had  fallen  back  against  his  old 
well-curb,  surveyed  his  young  neighbor  for  the  first 
time  with  a  look  of  anger.  But  it  vanished  almost 
as  quickly  as  it  appeared,  and  he  contented  himself 
with  a  low  bow,  in  which  I  read  real  grief. 

This  was  too  much  for  me,  and  I  was  about  to 
open  my  lips  with  a  kind  phrase  or  two,  when  a 
flutter  took  place  over  our  heads,  and  the  two 
pigeons  whose  flight  I  had  watched  more  than  once 
during  the  last  hour,  flew  down  and  settled  upon 
Mr.  Trohm's  arm  and  shoulders. 

"Oh!"  I  exclaimed,  with  a  sudden  shrinking 
that  I  hardly  understood  myself.  And  though  I 
covered  up  the  exclamation  with  as  brisk  a  good-by 
as  my  inward  perturbation  would  allow,  that  sight 
and  the  involuntary  ejaculation  I  had  uttered,  were 
all  I  saw  or  heard  during  our  hasty  drive  homeward. 


XXXVII 

I  ASTONISH    MR.    GRYCE   AND    HE    ASTONISHES   ME 

BUT  as  we  approached  tho  group  of  curious 
people  which  now  filled  up  the  whole  highway 
in  front  of  Mother  Jane's  cottage,  I  broke  from  the 
nightmare  into  which  this  last  discovery  had  thrown 
me,  and,  turning  to  William,  said  with  a  resolute 
air: 

'  You  and  your  sisters  are  not  of  one  mind  re 
garding  these  disappearances.  You  ascribe  them  to 
Deacon  Spear,  but  they — whom  do  they  ascribe  them 
to?" 

'  I  should  n't  think  it  would  take  a  woman  of 
your  wit  to  answer  that  question." 

The  rebuke  was  deserved.  I  had  wit,  but  I  had 
refused  to  exercise  it ;  my  blind  partiality  for  a  man 
of  pleasing  exterior  and  magnetic  address  had  pre 
vented  the  cool  play  of  my  usual  judgment,  due  to 
the  occasion  and  the  trust  which  had  been  imposed 
in  me  by  Mr.  Gryce.  Resolved  that  this  should 
end,  no  matter  at  what  cost  to  my  feelings,  I  quietly 
said : 

330 


THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR  351 

"  You  allude  to  Mr.  Trohm." 
'  That    is   the   name,"    he    carelessly    assented. 
"  Girls,   you    know,   let  their  prejudices  run  away 
with  them.     An  old  grudge — 

'  Yes,"  I  tentatively  put  in  ;  "he  persecuted  your 
mother,  and  so  they  think  him  capable  of  any 
wickedness." 

The  growl  which  William  gave  was  not  one  of 
dissent. 

But  I  don't  care  what  they  think,"  said  he, 
looking  down  at  the  heap  of  fruit  which  lay  between 
us.  "I  'm  Trohm's  friend,  and  don't  believe  one 
word  they  choose  to  insinuate  against  him.  What 
if  he  did  n't  like  what  my  mother  did !  We  did  n't 
like  it  either,  and " 

"  William,"  I  calmly  remarked,  "  if  your  sisters 
knew  that  Silly  Rufus  had  been  found  in  Deacon 
Spear's  barn  they  would  no  longer  do  Mr.  Trohm 
this  injustice." 

"  No;  that  would  settle  them;  that  would  give 
me  a  triumph  which  would  last  long  after  this  matter 
was  out  of  the  way." 

'  Very  well,  then,"  said  I,  "  I  am  going  to  bring 
about  this  triumph.  I  am  going  to  tell  Mr.  Gryce 
at  once  what  we  have  discovered  in  Deacon  Spear's 
barn." 

And  without  waiting  for  his  ah,  yes,  or  no,  I 
jumped  from  the  buggy  and  made  my  way  to  the 
detective's  side. 


352  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

His  welcome  was  somewhat  unexpected.  "  Ah, 
fresh  news!  "  he  exclaimed.  "  I  see  it  in  your  eye. 
What  have  you  chanced  upon,  madam,  in  your  dis 
interested  drive  into  town  ?  " 

I  thought  I  had  eliminated  all  expression  from  my 
face,  and  that  my  words  would  bring  a  certain  sur 
prise  with  them.  But  it  is  useless  to  try  to  surprise 
Mr.  Gryce. 

'  You  read  me  like  a  book,"  said  I;  "  I  have 
something  to  add  to  the  situation.  Mr.  Gryce,  I 
have  just  come  from  the  other  end  of  the  lane, 
where  I  found  a  clue  which  may  shorten  the  sus 
pense  of  this  weary  day,  and  possibly  save  Lucetta 
from  the  painful  task  she  has  undertaken  in  our  in 
terests.  Mr.  Chittenden's  ring — 

I  paused  for  the  exclamation  of  encouragement  he 
is  accustomed  to  give  on  such  occasions,  and  while 
I  paused,  prepared  for  my  accustomed  triumph. 
He  did  not  fail  me  in  the  exclamation,  nor  did  I 
miss  my  expected  triumph. 

'  Was  not  found  by  Mother  Jane,  or  even  brought 
to  her  in  any  ordinary  way  or  by  any  ordinary  mes 
senger.  It  came  to  her  on  a  pigeon's  neck,  the 
pigeon  you  will  find  lying  dead  among  the  bushes  in 
the  Knollys  yard." 

He  was  amazed.  He  controlled  himself,  but  he 
was  very  visibly  amazed.  His  exclamations  proved 
it. 

"  Madam!      Miss  Butterworth!     This  ring — Mr. 


THE  BIRDS   OF    THE  AIR  353 

Chittenden's  ring,  whose  presence  in  her  hut  we 
thought  an  evidence  of  guilt,  was  brought  to  her  by 
one  of  her  pigeons  ?  " 

So  she  told  me.  I  aroused  her  fury  by  showing 
her  the  empty  husk  in  which  it  had  been  concealed. 
In  her  rage  at  its  loss,  she  revealed  the  fact  I  have 
just  mentioned.  It  is  a  curious  one,  sir,  and  one  I 
am  a  little  proud  to  have  discovered." 

"  Curious  ?  It  is  more  than  curious;  it  is  bizarre, 
and  will  rank,  I  am  safe  in  prophesying,  as  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  facts  that  have  ever  adorned 
the  annals  of  the  police.  Madam,  when  I  say  I 
envy  you  the  honor  of  its  discovery,  you  will  appre 
ciate  my  estimate  of  it — and  you.  But  when  did 
you  find  this  out,  and  what  explanation  are  you 
able.to  give  of  the  presence  of  this  ring  on  a  pigeon's 
neck  ?  " 

"  Sir,  to  your  first  question  I  need  only  reply  that 
I  was  here  two  hours  or  so  ago,  and  to  the  second 
that  everything  points  to  the  fact  that  the  ring  was 
attached  to  the  bird  by  the  victim  himself,  as  an 
appeal  for  succor  to  whoever  might  be  fortunate 
enough  to  find  it.  Unhappily  it  fell  into  the  wrong 
hands.  That  is  the  ill-luck  which  often  befalls 
prisoners." 

"  Prisoners  ?" 

'  Yes.  Cannot  you  imagine  a  person  shut  up  in 
an  inaccessible  place  making  some  such  attempt  to 
communicate  with  his  fellow-creatures  ?  " 


354  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

"  But  what  inaccessible  place  have  we  in " 

Wait,"   said  I.      '  You   have  been  in  Deacon 
Spear's  barn." 

"  Certainly,  many  times."     But  the  answer,  glib 

as  it  was,  showed  shock.     I  began  to  gather  courage. 

'  Well,"  said  I,  "  there  is  a  hiding-place  in  that 

barn  which  I  dare  declare  you  have  not  penetrated." 

Do  you  think  so,  madam  ?  " 

"  A  little  loft  way  up  under  the  eaves,  which  can 
only   be  reached   by   clambering   over  the   rafters. 
Did  n't  Deacon  Spear  tell   you   there  was  such  a 
place  ?  " 
"  No,  but- 

'  William,  then  ?"  I  inexorably  pursued.  "  He 
says  he  pointed  such  a  spot  out  to  you,  and  that 
you  pooh-poohed  at  it  as  inaccessible  and  not  worth 
the  searching." 

'  William  is  a —  Madam,  I  beg  your  pardon,  but 
William  has  just  wit  enough  to  make  trouble." 

"  But  there  is  such  a  place  there,"  I  urged;  "  and, 
what  is  more,  there  is  some  one  hidden  in  it  now. 
I  saw  him  myself." 
"  You  saw  him  ?" 

Saw  a  part  of  him  ;  in  short,  saw  his  hand.      He 

was  engaged  in  scattering  crumbs  for  the  pigeons." 

'  That  does  not  look  like  starvation,"  smiled  Mr. 

Gryce,  with  the  first  hint  of  sarcasm  he  had  allowed 

himself  to  make  use  of  in  this  interview. 

"  No,"  said  I ;  "  but  the  time  may  not  have  come 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  355 

to  inflict  this  penalty  on  Silly  Rufus.  He  has  been 
there  but  a  few  days,  and — well,  what  have  I  said 
now  ?" 

"  Nothing,  ma'am,  nothing.  But  what  made  you 
think  the  hand  you  saw  belonged  to  Silly  Rufus  ?  " 

"  Because  he  was  the  last  person  to  disappear 
from  this  lane.  The  last — what  am  I  saying  ?  He 
was  n't  the  last.  Lucetta's  lover  was  the  last.  Mr. 
Gryce,  could  that  hand  have  belonged  to  Mr. 
Ostrander  ?" 

I  was  intensely  excited ;  so  much  so  that  Mr. 
Gryce  made  me  a  warning  gesture. 

"Hush!"  he  whispered;  "you  are  attracting 
attention.  That  hand  was  the  hand  of  Mr.  Ostran 
der;  and  the  reason  why  I  did  not  accept  William 
Knollys'  suggestion  to  search  the  Deacon's  barn-loft 
was  because  I  knew  it  had  been  chosen  as  a  place 
of  refuge  by  this  missing  lover  of  Lucetta." 


XXXVIII 

A  FEW   WORDS 

NEVER  have  keener  or  more  conflicting  emotions 
been  awakened  in  my  breast  than  by  these 
simple  words.  But  alive  to  the  necessity  of  hiding 
my  feelings  from  those  about  me,  I  gave  no  token 
of  my  surprise,  but  rather  turned  a  stonier  face  than 
common  upon  the  man  who  had  caused  it. 

Refuge  ?  "  I  repeated.  '  He  is  there,  then,  of 
his  own  free  will — or  yours  ?  "  I  sarcastically  added, 
not  being  able  to  quite  keep  down  this  reproach  as 
I  remembered  the  deception  practised  upon  Lucetta. 

Mr.  Ostrander,  madam,  has  been  spending  the 
week  with  Deacon  Spear — they  are  old  friends,  you 
know.  That  he  should  spend  it  quietly  and,  to  a 
degree,  in  hiding,  was  as  much  his  plan  as  mine. 
For  while  he  found  it  impossible  to  leave  Lucetta  in 
the  doubtful  position  in  which  she  and  her  family  at 
present  stand,  he  did  not  wish  to  aggravate  her 
misery  by  the  thought  that  he  was  thus  jeopardizing 
the  position  on  which  all  his  hopes  of  future  ad 
vancement  depended.  He  preferred  to  watch  and 

356 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  357 

wait  in  secret,  seeing  which,  I  did  what  I  could  to 
further  his  wishes.  His  usual  lodging  was  with  the 
family,  but  when  the  search  was  instituted,  I  sug 
gested  that  he  should  remove  himself  to  that  eyrir 
back  of  the  hay  where  you  were  sharp  enough  to 
detect  him  to-day." 

Don't  attempt  any  of  your  flatteries  upon  me,' 
I  protested.     "  They  will  not  make  me  forget  that  1 
have  not   been  treated   fairly.     And   Lucetta — oh ! 
may  I  not  tell  Lucetta — 

"  And  spoil  our  entire  prospect  of  solving  this 
mystery  ?  No,  madam,  you  may  not  tell  Lucett?, 
When  Fate  has  put  such  a  card  into  our  hands  as  I 
played  with  that  telegram  to-day,  we  would  be  fly 
ing  in  the  face  of  Providence  not  to  profit  by  it. 
Lucetta's  despair  makes  her  bold ;  upon  that  bold 
ness  we  depend  to  discover  and  bring  to  justice  ^ 
great  criminal." 

I  felt  myself  turn  pale;  for  that  very  reason,  per 
haps,  I  assumed  a  still  sterner  air,  and  composedly 
said : 

If  Mr.  Ostrander  is  in  hiding  at  the  Deacon's, 
and  he  and  his  host  are  both  in  your  confidence, 
ihen  the  only  man  whom  you  can  designate  in  your 
thoughts  by  this  dreadful  title  must  be  Mr.  Trohm." 

I  had  perhaps  hoped  he  would  recoil  at  this  or 
give  some  other  evidence  of  his  amazement  at  an 
assumption  which  to  me  seemed  preposterous.  But 
he  did  not,  and  I  saw,  with  what  feelings  may  be 


358  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

imagined,  that  this  conclusion,  which  was  half  bra 
vado  with  me,  had  been  accepted  by  him  long 
enough  for  no  emotion  to  follow  its  utterance. 

"  Oh!  "  I  exclaimed,  "  how  can  you  reconcile 
such  a  suspicion  with  the  attitude  you  have  always 
preserved  towards  Mr.  Trohm  ?  " 

"  Madam,"  said  he,  "  do  not  criticise  my  attitude 
without  taking  into  account  existing  appearances 
They  are  undoubtedly  in  Mr.  Trohm's  favor." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  said  I,  "  I  am 
ghid  to  hear  you  say  so.  Why,  it  was  in  response 
to  his  appeal  that  you  came  to  X.  at  all." 

Mr.  Gryce's  smile  conveyed  a  reproach  which  I 
could  not  but  acknowledge  I  amply  merited.  Had 
he  spent  evening  after  evening  at  my  house,  enter 
taining  me  with  tales  of  the  devices  and  the  many 
inconsistencies  of  criminals,  to  be  met  now  by  such 
a  puerile  disclaimer  as  this  ?  But  beyond  that  smile 
he  said  nothing;  on  the  contrary,  he  continued  as  if 
I  had  not  spoken  at  all. 

"  But  appearances,"  he  declared,  "  will  not  stand 
before  the  insight  of  a  girl  like  Lucetta.  She  has 
marked  the  man  as  guilty,  and  we  will  give  her  the 
opportunity  of  proving  the  correctness  of  her  in 
stinct." 

"  But  Mr.  Trohm's  house  has  been  searched,  and 
you  have  found  nothing — nothing,"  I  argued  some 
what  feebly. 

"  That  is  the  reason  we  find  ourselves  forced  to 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  359 

yield  our  judgment  to  Lucetta's  intuitions,"  was 
his  quick  reply.  And  smiling  upon  me  with  his 
blandest  air,  he  obligingly  added:  "  Miss  Butter- 
worth  is  a  woman  of  too  much  character  not  to  abide 
the  event  with  all  her  accustomed  composure." 
And  with  this  final  suggestion,  I  was  as  yet  too 
crushed  to  resent,  he  dismissed  me  to  an  afternoon 
of  unparalleled  suspense  and  many  contradictory 
emotions, 


XXXIX 

UNDER  A  CRIMSON   SKY 

WHEN,  in  the  course  of  events,  the  current  of 
my  thoughts  receive  a  decided  check  and  I 
find  myself  forced  to  change  former  conclusions  or 
habituate  myself  to  new  ideas  and  a  fresh  stand 
point,  I  do  it,  as  I  do  everything  else,  with  deter 
mination  and  a  total  disregard  of  my  own  previous 
predilections.  Before  the  afternoon  was  well  over 
I  was  ready  for  any  revelations  which  might  fol 
low  Lucetta's  contemplated  action,  merely  reserv 
ing  a  vague  hope  that  my  judgment  would  yet  be 
found  superior  to  her  instinct. 

At  five  o'clock  the  diggers  began  to  go  home. 
Nothing  had  been  found  under  the  soil  of  Mother 
Jane's  garden,  and  the  excitement  of  search  which 
had  animated  them  early  in  the  day  had  given  place 
to  a  dull  resentment  mainly  directed  towards  the 
Knollys  family,  if  one  could  judge  of  these  men's 
feelings  by  the  heavy  scowls  and  significant  ges 
tures  with  which  they  passed  our  broken-down  gate 
way. 

360 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE   AIR  361 

By  six  the  last  man  had  filed  by,  leaving  Mr. 
Gryce  free  for  the  work  which  lay  before  him. 

I  had  retired  long  before  this  to  my  room,  where 
I  awaited  the  hour  set  by  Lucetta  with  a  feverish 
impatience  quite  new  to  me.  As  none  of  us  could 
eat,  the  supper  table  had  riot  been  laid,  and  though 
I  had  no  means  of  knowing  what  was  in  store  for  us, 
the  sombre  silence  and  oppression  under  which  the 
whole  house  lay  seemed  a  portent  that  was  by  no 
means  encouraging. 

Suddenly  I  heard  a  knock  at  my  door.  Rising 
hastily,  I  opened  it.  Loreen  stood  before  me,  with 
parted  lips  and  terror  in  all  her  looks. 

"  Come!  "    she  cried.     "  Come  and  see  what  I 
have  found  in  Lucetta's  room." 
'  Then  she  's  gone  ?  "  I  cried. 
'  Yes,  she  's  gone,  but  come  and  see  what  she 
has  left  behind  her." 

Hastening  after  Loreen,  who  was  by  this  time 
half-way  down  the  hall,  I  soon  found  myself  on  the 
threshold  of  the  room  I  knew  to  be  Lucetta's. 

She  made  me  promise,"  cried  Loreen,  halting 
to  look  back  at  me,  "  that  I  would  let  her  go  alone, 
and  that  I  would  not  enter  the  highway  till  an  houi 
after  her  departure.  But  with  these  evidences  of 
the  extent  of  her  dread  before  us,  how  can  we  stay  in 
this  house?"  And  dragging  me  to  a  table,  she 
showed  me  lying  on  its  top  a  folded  paper  and  two 
letters.  The  folded  paper  was  Lucetta's  Will,  and 


362  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

the  letters  were  directed  severally  to  Loreen  and 
to  myself  with  the  injunction  that  they  were  not  to 
be  read  till  she  had  been  gone  six  hours. 

"She  has  prepared  herself  for  death!"  I  ex 
claimed,  shocked  to  my  heart's  core,  but  deter 
minedly  hiding  it.  "  But  you  need  not  fear  any 
such  event.  Is  she  not  accompanied  by  Mr.  Gryce  ? ' ' 
'  I  do  not  know;  I  do  not  think  so.  How  could 
she  accomplish  her  task  if  not  alone  ?  Miss  Butter- 
worth,  Miss  Butterworth,  she  has  gone  to  brave  Mr. 
Trohm,  our  mother's  persecutor  and  our  life-long 
enemy,  thinking,  hoping,  believing  that  in  so  doing 
she  will  rouse  his  criminal  instincts,  if  he  has  them, 
and  so  lead  to  the  discovery  of  his  crimes  and  the 
means  by  which  he  has  been  enabled  to  carry  them 
out  so  long  undetected.  It  is  noble,  it  is  heroic,  it 
is  martyr-like,  but — oh !  Miss  Butterworth,  I  have 
never  broken  a  promise  to  any  one  before  in  all  my 
life,  but  I  am  going  to  break  the  one  I  made  her. 
Come,  let  us  fly  after  her!  She  has  her  lover's 
memory,  but  I  have  nothing  in  all  the  world  but 
her." 

I  immediately  turned  and  hastened  down  the 
stairs  in  a  state  of  humiliation  which  should  have 
made  ample  amends  for  any  show  of  arrogance  I  may 
have  indulged  in  in  my  more  fortunate  moments. 

Loreen  followed  me,  and  when  we  were  in  the 
lower  hall  she  gave  me  a  look  and  said : 

"  My  promise   was   not   to   enter   the   highway. 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  363 

Would  you  be  afraid  to  follow  me  by  another  road 
- — a  secret  road — all  overgrown  with  thistles  and 
blackberry  bushes  which  have  not  been  trimmed  up 
for  years  ?  "* ' 

I  thought  of  my  thin  shoes,  my  neat  silk  dress, 
but  only  to  forget  them  the  next  moment. 

"  I  will  go  anywhere,"  said  I. 

But  Loreen  was  already  too  far  in  advance  of  me 
to  answer.  She  was  young  and  lithe,  and  had 
reached  the  kitchen  before  I  had  passed  the  Flower 
Parlor.  But  when  we  had  sped  clear  of  the  house 
I  found  that  my  progress  bade  fair  to  be  as  rapid  as 
hers,  for  her  agitation  was  a  hindrance  to  her,  while 
excitement  always  brings  out  my  powers  and 
heightens  both  my  wits  and  my  judgment. 

Our  way  lay  past  the  stables,  from  which  I  ex 
pected  every  minute  to  see  two  or  three  dogs  jump. 
But  William,  who  had  been  discreetly  sent  out  of 
the  way  early  in  the  afternoon,  had  taken  Saracen 
with  him,  and  possibly  the  rest,  so  our  passing  by 
disturbed  nothing,  not  even  ourselves.  The  next 
moment  we  were  in  a  field  of  prickers,  through 
which  we  both  struggled  till  we  came  into  a  sort  of 
swamp.  Here  was  bad  going,  but  we  floundered 
on,  edging  continually  toward  a  distant  fence  be 
yond  which  rose  the  symmetrical  lines  of  an  orchard 
— Mr.  Trohm's  orchard,  in  which  those  pleasant 
fruits  grew  which —  Bah !  should  I  ever  be  able  to 
get  the  taste  of  them  out  of  my  mouth.' 


364  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

At  a  tiny  gateway  covered  with  vines,  Loreen 
stopped. 

I  do  not  believe  this  has  been  opened  for  years, 
but  it  must  be  opened  now."  And,  throwing  her 
whole  weight  against  it,  she  burst  it  through,  and 
bidding  me  pass,  hastened  after  me  over  the  trailing 
branches  and  made,  without  a  word,  for  the  winding 
path  we  now  saw  clearly  defined  on  the  edge  of  the 
orchard  before  us. 

"  Oh!  "  exclaimed  Loreen,  stopping  one  moment 
to  catch  her  breath,  "  I  do  not  know  what  I  fear  or 
to  what  our  steps  will  bring  us.  I  only  know  that  I 
must  hunt  for  Lucetta  till  I  find  her.  If  there  is 
danger  where  she  is,  I  must  share  it.  You  can  rest 
here  or  come  farther  on." 

I  went  farther  on. 

Suddenly  we  both  started ;  a  man  had  sprung  up 
from  behind  the  hedgerow  that  ran  parallel  with 
the  fence  that  surrounded  Mr.  Trohm's  place. 

"  Silence!  "  he  whispered,  putting  his  finger  on 
his  lips.  '  If  you  are  looking  for  Miss  Knollys," 
he  added,  seeing  us  both  pause  aghast,  "  she  is  on 
the  lawn  beyond,  talking  to  Mr.  Trohm.  If  you  will 
step  here,  you  can  see  her.  She  is  in  no  kind  of  dan 
ger,  but  if  she  were,  Mr.  Gryce  is  in  the  first  row  of 
trees  to  the  back  there,  and  a  call  from  me — 

That  made  me  remember  my  whistle.  It  was  still 
round  my  neck,  but  my  hand,  which  had  instinctively 
gone  to  it,  fell  again  in  extraordinary  emotion  as  I 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  365 

realized  the  situation  and  compared  it  with  that  of 
the  morning  when,  blinded  by  egotism  and  foolish 
prejudice  in  favor  of  this  man,  I  ate  of  his  fruit  and 
hearkened  to  his  outrageous  addresses. 

Come !  "  beckoned  Loreen,  happily  too  absorbed 
in  her  own  emotions  to  notice  mine.  '  Let  us  get 
nearer.  If  Mr.  Trohm  is  the  wicked  man  we  fear, 
there  is  no  telling  what  the  means  are  which  he  uses 
to  get  rid  of  his  victims.  There  was  nothing  to  be 
found  in  his  house,  but  who  knows  where  the  danger 
may  lurk,  and  that  it  may  not  be  near  her  now  ?  It 
was  evidently  to  dare  it  she  came,  to  offer  herself 
as  a  martyr,  that  we  might  know- 
Hush!  "  I  whispered,  controlling  my  own  fears 
roused  against  my  will  by  this  display  of  terror  in 
this  usually  calmest  of  natures.  "  No  danger  can 
menace  her  where  they  stand,  unless  he  is  a  com 
mon  assassin  and  carries  a  pistol — 

14  No  pistol,"  murmured  the  man,  who  had  crept 
again  near  us.  '  Pistols  make  a  noise.  He  will 
not  use  a  pistol." 

Good  God!  "  I  whispered.  "  You  do  not  share 
her  sister's  fears  that  it  is  in  the  heart  of  this  man  to 
kill  Lucetta  ?" 

Five  strong  men  have  disappeared  hereabout," 
said  the  fellow,  never  moving  his  eye  from  the 
couple  before  us.  '  Why  not  one  weak  girl  ?  " 

With  a  cry  *Loreen  started  forward.  '  Run!" 
she  whispered.  "  Run!  " 


366  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

But  as  this  word  left  her  lips,  a  slight  movement 
took  place  in  the  belt  of  trees  where  we  had  been 
told  Mr.  Gryce  lay  in  hiding,  and  we  could  see  him 
issue  for  a  moment  into  sight  with  his  finger  like 
that  of  his  man  laid  warningly  on  his  lips.  Loreen 
trembled  and  drew  back,  seeing  which,  the  man 
beside  us  pointed  to  the  hedge  and  whispered  softly : 

'  There  is  just  room  between  it  and  the  fence  for 
a  person  to  pass  sideways.  If  you  and  this  lady 
want  to  get  nearer  to  Miss  Knollys,  you  might  take 
that  road.  But  Mr.  Gryce  will  expect  you  to  be 
very  quiet.  The  young  lady  expressly  said,  before 
she  came  into  this  place,  that  she  could  do  nothing 
if  for  any  reason  Mr.  Trohm  should  suspect  they 
were  not  alone." 

We  will  be  quiet,"  I  assured  him,  anxious  to 
hide  my  face,  which  I  felt  twitch  at  every  mention 
of  Mr.  Trohm's  name.  Loreen  was  already  behind 
the  hedge. 

The  evening  was  one  of  those  which  are  made 
for  peace.  The  sun,  which  had  set  in  crimson,  had 
left  a  glow  on  the  branches  of  the  forest  which  had 
not  yet  faded  into  the  gray  of  twilight.  The  lawn, 
around  which  we  were  skirting,  had  not  lost  the 
mellow  brilliancy  which  made  it  sparkle,  nor  had  the 
cluster  of  varied-hued  hollyhocks  which  set  their 
gorgeousness  against  the  neat  yellow  of  the  peaceful 
doorposts,  shown  any  dimness  in  their  glory,  which 
was  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  setting  sun.  But 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  367 

though  I  saw  all  this,  it  no  longer  appeared  to  me 
desirable.  Lucetta  and  Lucetta's  fate,  the  mystery 
and  the  impossibility  of  its  being  explained  out  here 
in  the  midst  of  turf  and  blossoms,  filled  all  my 
thoughts,  and  made  me  forget  my  own  secret  cause 
for  shame  and  humiliation. 

Loreen,  who  had  wormed  her  way  along  till  she 
crouched  nearly  opposite  to  the  place  where  her 
sister  stood,  plucked  me  by  the  gown  as  I  ap 
proached  her,  and,  pointing  to  the  hedge,  which 
pressed  up  so  close  it  nearly  touched  our  faces, 
seemed  to  bid  me  look  through.  Searching  for 
a  spot  where  there  was  a  small  opening,  I  put  my 
eye  to  this  and  immediately  drew  back. 

'  They  are  moving  nearer  the  gate,"  I  signalled 
to  Loreen,  at  which  she  crept  along  a  few  paces, 
but  with  a  stealth  so  great  that,  alert  as  I  was,  I 
could  not  hear  a  twig  snap.  I  endeavored  to  imitate 
her,  but  not  with  as  much  success  as  I  could  wish. 
The  sense  of  horror  which  had  all  at  once  settled 
upon  me,  the  supernatural  dread  of  something  which 
I  could  not  see,  but  which  I  felt,  had  seized  me  for 
the  first  time  and  made  the  ruddy  sky  and  the  broad 
stretch  of  velvet  turf  with  the  shadows  playing  over 
it  of  swaying  tree-tops  and  clustered  oleanders, 
more  thrilling  and  awesome  to  me  than  the  dim 
halls  of  the  haunted  house  of  the  Knollys  family 
in  that  midnight  hour  when  I  saw  a  body  carried 
out  for  burial  amid  trouble  and  hush  and  a  mystery 


368  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

so  great  it  would  have  daunted  most  spirits  for  the 
remainder  of  their  lives. 

The  very  sweetness  of  the  scene  made  its  horror. 
Never  have  I  had  such  sensations,  never  have  I  felt 
so  deeply  the  power  of  the  unseen,  yet  it  seemed  so 
impossible  that  anything  could  happen  here,  any 
thing  which  would  explain  the  total  disappearance 
of  several  persons  at  different  times,  without  a  trace 
of  their  fate  being  left  to  the  eye,  that  I  could  but 
liken  my  state  to  that  of  nightmare,  where  visions 
take  the  place  of  realities  and  often  overwhelm 
them. 

I  had  pressed  too  close  against  the  hedge  as  I 
struggled  with  these  feelings,  and  the  sound  I  made 
struck  me  as  distinct,  if  not  alarming;  but  the  tree- 
tops  were  rustling  overhead,  and,  while  Lucetta 
might  have  heard  the  hedge-branches  crack,  her 
companion  gave  no  evidence  of  doing  so.  We  could 
distinguish  what  they  were  saying  now,  and  realizing 
this,  we  stopped  moving  and  gave  our  whole  atten 
tion  to  listening.  Mr.  Trohm  was  speaking.  I 
could  hardly  believe  it  was  his  voice,  it  had  so 
changed  in  tone,  nor  could  I  perceive  in  his  features, 
distorted  as  they  now  were  by  every  evil  passion, 
the  once  quiet  and  dignified  countenance  which  had 
so  lately  imposed  upon  me. 

"  Lucetta,  my  little  Lucetta,"  he  was  saying, 
"  so  she  has  come  to  see  me,  come  to  taunt  me  with 
the  loss  of  her  lover,  whom  she  says  I  have  robbed 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE  AIR  369 

her  of  almost  before  her  eyes!  I  rob  her!  How 
can  I  rob  her  or  any  one  of  a  man  with  a  voice  and 
arm  of  his  own  stronger  than  mine  ?  Am  I  a  wizard 
to  dissipate  his  body  in  vapor  ?  Yet  can  you  find  it 
in  my  house  or  on  my  lawn  ?  You  are  a  fool, 
Lucetta;  so  are  all  these  men  about  here  fools!  It 
is  in  your  house " 

4  Hush!  "  she  cried,  her  slight  figure  rising  till  we 
forgot  it  was  the  feeble  Lucetta  we  were  gazing 
at.  "  No  more  accusations  directed  against  us.  It 
is  you  who  must  expect  them  now.  Mr.  Trohm, 
your  evil  practices  are  discovered.  To-morrow  you 
will  have  the  police  here  in  earnest.  They  did  but 
play  with  you  when  they  were  here  before." 

'  You  child !  "  he  gasped,  striving,  however,  to 
restrain  all  evidences  of  shock  and  terror.  "  Why, 
who  was  it  called  in  the  police  and  set  them  working 
in  Lost  Man's  Lane  ?  Was  it  not  I— 

'  Yes,  that  they  might  not  suspect  you,  and  per 
haps  that  they  might  suspect  us.  But  it  was  useless, 
Obadiah  Trohm.  Althea  Knollys'  children  have 
been  long-suffering,  but  the  limit  of  their  forbear 
ance  has  been  reached.  When  you  laid  your  hand 
upon  my  lover,  you  roused  a  spirit  in  me  that 
nothing  but  your  own  destruction  can  satisfy. 
Where  is  he,  Mr.  Trohm  ?  and  where  is  Silly  Rufus 
and  all  the  rest  who  have  vanished  between  Deacon 
Spear's  house  and  the  little  home  of  the  cripples  on 
the  highroad  ?  They  have  asked  me  this  question, 


3/O  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

but  if  any  one  in  Lost  Man's  Lane  can  answer,  it  is 
you,  persecutor  of  my  mother,  and  traducer  of  our 
selves,  whom  I  here  denounce  in  face  of  these  skies 
where  God  reigns  and  this  earth  where  man  lives  to 
harry  and  condemn." 

And  then  I  saw  that  the  instinct  of  this  girl  had 
accomplished  what  our  united  acumen  and  skill  had 
failed  to  do.  The  old  man — indeed  he  seemed  an 
old  man  now — cringed,  and  the  wrinkles  came  out 
in  his  face  till  he  was  demoniacally  ugly. 

'  You  viper!  "  he  shrieked.  "  How  dare  you  ac 
cuse  me  of  crime — you  whose  mother  would  have 
died  in  jail  but  for  my  forbearance  ?  Have  you  ever 
seen  me  set  my  foot  upon  a  worm?  Look  at  my  fruit 
and  flowers,  look  at  my  home,  without  a  spot  or 
blemish  to  mar  its  neatness  and  propriety.  Can  a 
man  who  loves  these  things  stomach  the  destruction 
of  a  man,  much  less  of  a  silly,  yawping  boy  ?  Lu- 
cetta,  you  are  mad !  " 

Mad  or  sane,  my  accusation  will  have  its  results, 
Mr.  Trohm.  I  believe  too  deeply  in  your  guilt  not 
to  make  others  do  so." 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  then  you  have  not  done  so  yet  ? 
You  believe  this  and  that,  but  you  have  not  told 
any  one  what  your  suspicions  are?" 

No,"  she  calmly  returned,  though  her  face 
blanched  to  the  colorlessness  of  wax,  "  I  have  not 
said  what  I  think  of  you  yet." 

Oh,  the  cunning  that  crept  into  his  face! 


THE  BIRDS  OF    THE   AIR  371 

"  She  has  not  said.  Oh,  the  little  Lucetta,  the 
wise,  the  careful  little  Lucetta!  " 

'  But  I  will,"  she  cried,  meeting  his  eye  with  the 
courage  and  constancy  of  a  martyr,  "  though  I  bring 
destruction  upon  myself.  I  will  denounce  you  and 
do  it  before  the  night  has  settled  down  upon  us.  I 
have  a  lover  to  avenge,  a  brother  to  defend.  Be 
sides,  the  earth  should  be  rid  of  such  a  monster  as 
you." 

"  Such  a  monster  as  I  ?  Well,  my  pretty  one," 
— his  voice  grown  suddenly  wheedling,  his  face  a 
study  of  mingled  passions, —  ' '  we  will  see  about  that. 
Come  just  a  step  nearer,  Lucetta.  I  want  to  see  if 
you  are  really  the  little  girl  I  used  to  dandle  on  my 
knee." 

They  were  now  near  the  gateway.  They  had 
been  moving  all  this  time.  His  hand  was  on  the 
curb  of  the  old  well.  His  face,  so  turned  that  it 
caught  the  full  glare  of  the  setting  sun,  leaned 
toward  the  girl,  exerting  a  fascinating  influence 
upon  her.  She  took  the  step  he  asked,  and  before 
we  could  shriek  out  "  Beware!  "  we  saw  him  bend 
forward  with  a  sudden  quick  motion  and  then  start 
upright  again,  while  her  form,  which  but  an  instant 
before  had  stood  there  in  all  its  frail  and  inspired 
beauty,  tottered  as  if  the  ground  were  bending  under 
it,  and  in  another  moment  disappeared  from  our  ap 
palled  sight,  swallowed  in  some  dreadful  cavern  that 
for  an  instant  yawned  in  the  smoothly  cut  lawn 


372  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

before  us,  and  then  vanished  again  from  sight  as  if 
it  had  never  been. 

A  shriek  from  my  whistle  mingled  with  a  simul 
taneous  cry  of  agony  from  Loreen.  We  heard  Mr. 
Gryce  rush  from  behind  us,  but  we  ourselves  found 
it  impossible  to  stir,  paralyzed  as  we  were  by  the 
sight  of  the  old  man's  demoniacal  delight.  He  was 
leaping  to  and  fro  over  the  turf,  holding  up  his 
fingers  in  the  red  sunset  glare. 

"  Six!  "  he  shrieked.  "  Six!  and  room  for.  two 
more !  Oh,  it  's  a  merry  life  I  lead !  Flowers  and 
fruit  and  love-making  "  (oh,  how  I  cringed  at  that !), 
"  and  now  and  then  a  little  spice  like  this!  But 
where  is  my  pretty  Lucetta  ?  Surely  she  was  here 
a  moment  ago.  How  could  she  have  vanished,  then, 
so  quickly  ?  I  do  not  see  her  form  amid  the  trees, 
there  is  no  trace  of  her  presence  upon  the  lawn,  and 
if  they  search  the  house  from  top  to  bottom  and 
from  bottom  to  top  they  will  find  nothing  of  her — 
no,  not  so  much  as  a  print  of  her  footstep  or  the 
scent  of  the  violets  she  so  often  wears  tucked  into 
her  hair." 

These  last  words,  uttered  in  a  different  voice  from 
the  rest,  gave  the  clue  to  the  whole  situation.  We 
saw,  even  while  we  all  bounded  forward  to  the 
rescue  of  the  devoted  maiden,  that  he  was  one  of 
those  maniacs  who  have  perfect  control  over  them 
selves  and  pass  for  very  decent  sort  of  men  except 
in  the  moment  of  triumph ;  and,  noting  his  look  of 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  373 

sinister  delight,  perceived  that  half  his  pleasure  and 
almost  his  sole  reward  for  the  horrible  crimes  he 
had  perpetrated,  was  in  the  mystery  surrounding  his 
victims  and  the  entire  immunity  from  suspicion 
which  up  to  this  time  he  had  enjoyed. 

Meantime  Mr.  Gryce  had  covered  the  wretch  with 
his  pistol,  and  his  man,  who  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  place  even  sooner  than  ourselves,  hampered  as 
we  were  by  the  almost  impenetrable  hedge  behind 
which  we  had  crouched,  tried  to  lift  the  grass- 
covered  lid  we  could  faintly  discern  there.  But  this 
was  impossible  until  I,  with  almost  superhuman  self- 
possession,  considering  the  imperative  nature  of  the 
emergency,  found  the  spring  hidden  in  the  well- 
curb  which  worked  the  deadly  mechanism.  A  yell 
from  the  writhing  creature  cowering  under  the 
detective's  pistol  guided  me  unconsciously  in  its 
action,  and  in  another  moment  we  saw  the  fatal  lid 
tip  and  disclose  what  appeared  to  be  the  remains  of 
a  second  well,  long  ago  dried  up  and  abandoned  for 
the  other. 

The  rescue  of  Lucetta  followed.  As  she  had 
fainted  in  falling  she  had  not  suffered  much,  and 
soon  we  had  the  supreme  delight  of  seeing  her  eyes 
unclose. 

"  Ah,"  she  murmured,  in  a  voice  whose  echo 
pierced  to  every  heart  save  that  of  the  guilty  wretch 
now  lying  handcuffed  on  the  sward,  "  I  thought  I 
saw  Albert!  He  was  not  dead,  and  I " 


374  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

But  here  Mr.  Gryce,  with  an  air  at  once  contrite 
and  yet  strangely  triumphant,  interposed  his  benev 
olent  face  between  hers  and  her  weeping  sister's  and 
whispered  something  in  her  ear  which  turned  her 
pallid  cheek  to  a  glowing  scarlet.  Rising  up,  she 
threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  let  him  lift  her. 
As  he  carried  her — where  was  his  rheumatism  now  ? 
• — out  of  those  baleful  grounds  and  away  from  the 
reach  of  the  maniac's  mingled  laughs  and  cries,  her 
face  was  peace  itself.  But  his — well,  his  was  a 
study. 


XL 

EXPLANATIONS 

THE  hour  we  all  spent  together  late  that  night  in 
the  old  house  was  unlike  any  hour  which  that 
place  had  seen  for  years.  Mr.  Ostrander,  Lucetta, 
Loreen,  William,  Mr.  Gryce,  and  myself,  all  were 
there,  and  as  an  especial  grace,  Saracen  was  allowed 
to  enter,  that  there  might  not  be  a  cloud  upon  a 
single  face  there  assembled.  Though  it  is  a  small 
matter,  I  will  add  that  this  dog  persisted  in  lying 
down  by  my  side,  not  yielding  even  to  the  wiles  of 
his  master,  whose  amusement  over  this  fact  kept 
him  good-natured  to  the  last  adieu. 

There  were  too  few  candles  in  the  house  to  make 
it  bright,  but  Lucetta's  unearthly  beauty,  the  peace 
in  Loreen's  soft  eyes,  made  us  forget  the  sombre- 
ness  of  our  surroundings  and  the  meagreness  of  the 
entertainment  Hannah  attempted  to  offer  us.  It 
was  the  promise  of  coming  joy,  and  when,  our  two 
guests  departed,  I  bade  good-night  to  the  girls  in 
their  grim  upper  hall,  it  was  with  feelings  which 
found  their  best  expression  in  the  two  letters  I 
hastened  to  write  as  soon  as  I  gained  the  refuge  of 

375 


376  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

my  own  apartment,  I  will  admit  you  sufficiently 
into  my  confidence  to  let  you  read  those  letters. 
The  first  of  them  ran  thus: 

"  DEAR  OLIVE: 

4  To  make  others  happy  is  the  best  way  to  forget 
our  own  misfortunes.  A  sudden  wedding  is  to  take 
place  in  this  house.  Order  at  once  for  me  from  the 
shops  you  know  me  to  be  in  the  habit  of  patronizing, 
a  wedding  gown  of  dainty  white  taffeta  [I  did  this 
not  to  recall  too  painfully  to  herself  the  wedding 
dress  I  helped  her  buy,  and  which  was,  as  you  may 
remember,  of  creamy  satin],  with  chiffon  trimmings,' 
and  a  wedding  veil  of  tulle.  Add  to  this  a  dress 
suitable  for  ocean  travel  and  a  half-dozen  costumes 
adapted  to  a  southern  climate.  Let  everything  be 
suitable  for  a  delicate  but  spirited  girl  who  has  seen 
trouble,  but  who  is  going  to  be  happy  now  if  a  little 
attention  and  money  can  make  her  so.  Do  not 
spare  expense,  yet  show  no  extravagance,  for  she  is  a 
shy  bird,  easily  frightened.  The  measurements  you 
will  find  enclosed  ;  also  those  of  another  young  lady, 
her  sister,  who  must  also  be  supplied  with  a  white 
dress,  the  material  of  which,  however,  had  better  be 
of  crape. 

"  All  these  things  must  be  here  by  Wednesday 
evening,  my  own  best  dress  included.  On  Saturday 
evening  you  may  look  for  my  return.  I  shall  bring 
the  latter  young  lady  with  me,  so  your  present  lone 
liness  will  be  forgotten  in  the  pleasure  of  entertain 
ing  an  agreeable  guest.  Faithfully  yours, 

"  AMELIA  BUTTERWORTH." 

The  second  letter  was  a  longer  and  more  impor 
tant  one.  It  was  directed  to  the  president  of  the 


THE  BIRDS   OF   THE   AIR  377 

company  which  had  proposed  to  send  Mr.  Ostrander 
to  South  America.  In  it  I  related"  enough  of  the 
circumstances  which  had  kept  Mr.  Ostrander  in  X. 
to  interest  him  in  the  young  couple  personally,  and 
then  I  told  him  that  if  he  would  forgive  Mr.  Ostran 
der  this  delay  and  allow  him  to  sail  with  his  young 
bride  by  the  next  steamer,  I  myself  would  undertake 
to  advance  whatever  sums  might  have  been  lost  by 
this  change  of  arrangement. 

I  did  not  know  then  that  Mr.  Gryce  had  already 
made  this  matter  good  with  this  same  gentleman. 

The  next  morning  we  all  took  a  walk  in  the  lane. 
(I  say  nothing  about  the  night.  If  I  did  not  choose 
to  sleep,  or  if  I  had  any  cause  not  to  feel  quite  as 
elevated  in  spirit  as  the  young  people  about  me, 
there  is  surely  no  reason  why  I  should  dwell  upon 
it  with  you  or  even  apologize  for  a  weakness  which 
you  will  regard,  I  hope,  as  an  exception  setting  off 
my  customary  strength.) 

Now  a  walk  in  this  lane  was  an  event.  To  feel  at 
liberty  to  stroll  among  its  shadows  without  fear,  to 
know  that  the  danger  had  been  so  located  that 
we  all  felt  free  to  inhale  the  autumn  air  and  to 
enjoy  the  beauties  of  the  place  without  a  thought 
of  peril  lurking  in  its  sweetest  nooks  and  most 
attractive  coverts,  gave  to  this  short  half-hour  a 
distinctive  delight  aptly  expressed  by  Loreen  when 
she  said : 

"  I  never  knew  the  place  was  so  beautiful.     Why, 


378  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

I    think    I   can    be   happy   here    now."     At   which 
Lucetta  grew  pensive,  till  I  roused  her  by  saying: 

So  much  for  a  constitutional,  girls.  Now  we 
must  to  work.  This  house,  as  you  see  it  now,  has 
to  be  prepared  for  a  wedding.  William,  your  busi 
ness  will  be  to  see  that  these  grounds  are  put  in  as 
good  order  as  possible  in  the  short  time  allotted  to 
you.  I  will  bear  the  expense,  and  Loreen — 
But  William  had  a  word  to  say  for  himself. 
'  Miss  Butterworth,"  said  he,  "  you  're  a  right 
good  sort  of  woman,  as  Saracen  has  found  out,  and 
we,  too,  in  these  last  few  plaguy  days.  But  I  'm 
not  such  a  bad  lot  either,  and  if  I  do  like  my  own 
way,  which  may  not  be  other  people's  way,  and  if  I 
am  sometimes  short  with  the  girls  for  some  of  their 
d — d  nonsense,  I  have  a  little  decency  about  me, 
too,  and  I  promise  to  fix  these  grounds,  and  out  of 
my  own  money,  too.  Now  that  nine  tenths  of  our 
income  does  not  have  to  go  abroad,  we  '11  have  chink 
enough  to  let  us  live  in  a  respectable  manner  once 
more  in  a  place  where  one  horse,  if  he  's  good 
enough,  will  give  a  fellow  a  standing  and  make  him 
the  envy  of  those  who,  for  some  other  pesky  reasons, 
may  think  themselves  called  upon  to  fight  shy  of 
him.  I  don't  begrudge  the  old  place  a  few  dollars, 
especially  as  I  mean  to  live  and  die  in  it ;  so  look 
out,  you  three  women  folks,  and  work  as  lively  as 
you  can  on  the  inside  of  the  old  rookery,  or  the 
slickness  of  the  outside  will  put  you  to  open  shame, 


THE  BIRDS  OF    THE  AIR  379 

and  that  would  never  please  Loreen,  nor,  as  I  take 
it,  Miss  Butterworth  either." 

It  was  a  challenge  we  were  glad  to  accept,  espe 
cially  as  from  the  number  of  persons  we  now  saw 
come  flocking  into  the  lane,  it  was  very  apparent 
that  we  should  experience  no  further  difficulty  in 
obtaining  any  help  we  might  need  to  carry  out  our 
undertakings. 

Meantime  my  thoughts  were  not  altogether  con 
centrated  upon  these  pleasing  plans  for  Lucetta's 
benefit.  There  were  certain  points  yet  to  be  made 
clear  in  the  matter  just  terminated,  and  there  was 
a  confession  for  me  to  make,  without  which  I 
could  not  face  Mr.  Gryce  with  all  that  unwavering 
composure  which  our  peculiar  relations  seemed  to 
demand. 

The  explanations  came  first.  They  were  volun 
teered  by  Mr.  Gryce,  whom  I  met  in  the  course  of 
the  morning  at  Mother  Jane's  cottage.  That  old 
crone  had  been  perfectly  happy  all  night,  sleeping 
with  the  coin  in  her  hand  and  waking  to  again  de 
vour  it  with  her  greedy  but  loving  eyes.  As  I  was 
alternately  watching  her  and  Mr.  Gryce,  who  was 
directing  with  his  hand  the  movements  of  the  men 
who  had  come  to  smooth  down  her  garden  and 
make  it  presentable  again,  the  detective  spoke: 

:<  I  suppose  you  have  found  it  difficult,  in  the 
light  of  these  new  discoveries,  to  explain  to  your 
self  how  Mother  Jane  happened  to  have  those 


380  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

trinkets  from  the  peddler's  pack,  and  also  how  the 
ring,  which  you  very  naturally  thought  must  have 
been  entrusted  to  the  dove  by  Mr.  Chittenden  him 
self,  came  to  be  about  its  neck  when  it  flew  home 
that  day  of  Mr.  Chittenden's  disappearance.  Mad 
am,  we  think  old  Mother  Jane  must  have  helped 
herself  out  of  the  peddler's  pack  before  it  was  found 
in  the  woods  there  back  of  her  hut,  and  of  the  other 
matter  our  explanation  is  this: 

"  One  day  a  young  man,  equipped  for  travelling, 
paused  for  a  glass  of  water  at  the  famous  well  in 
Mr.  Trohm's  garden  just  as  Mother  Jane's  pigeons 
were  picking  up  the  corn  scattered  for  them  by  the 
former,  whose  tastes  are  not  confined  to  the  cultiva 
tion  of  fruits  and  flowers,  but  extend  to  dumb 
animals,  to  whom  he  is  uniformly  kind.  The  young 
man  wore  a  ring,  and,  being  nervous,  was  fiddling 
with  it  as  he  talked  to  the  pleasant  old  gentleman 
who  was  lowering  the  bucket  for  him.  As  he  fiddled 
with  it,  the  earth  fell  from  under  him,  and  as  the 
daylight  vanished  above  his  head,  the  ring  flew 
from  his  up-thrown  hand,  and  lay,  the  only  token 
of  his  now  blotted-out  existence,  upon  the  emerald 
sward  he  had  but  a  moment  before  pressed  with  his 
unsuspicious  feet.  It  burned  —  this  ruby  burned 
like  a  drop  of  blood  in  the  grass,  when  that  demon 
came  again  to  his  senses,  and  being  a  tell-tale  evi 
dence  of  crime  in  the  eyes  of  one  who  had  allowed 
nothing  to  ever  speak  against  him  in  these  matters, 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  381 

he  stared  at  it  as  at  a  deadly  thing  directed  against 
himself  and  to  be  got  rid  of  at  once  and  by  means 
which  by  no  possibility  could  recoil  back  upon  him 
self  as  its  author. 

The  pigeons  stalking  near  offered  to  his  abnor 
mally  acute  understanding  the  only  solution  which 
would  leave  him  absolutely  devoid  of  fear.  He 
might  have  swung  open  the  lid  of  the  well  once 
more  and  flung  it  after  its  owner,  but  this  meant  an 
aftermath  of  experience  from  which  he  shrank,  his 
delight  being  in  the  thought  that  the  victims  he  saw 
vanish  before  his  eyes  were  so  many  encumbrances 
wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth  by  a  sweep  of  the 
hand.  To  see  or  hear  them  again  would  be  destruc 
tive  of  this  notion.  He  preferred  the  subtler  way 
and  to  take  advantage  of  old  Mother  Jane's  charac 
teristics,  so  he  caught  one  of  the  pigeons  (he  has 
always  been  able  to  lure  birds  into  his  hands),  and 
tying  the  ring  around  the  neck  of  the  bird  with  a 
blade  of  grass  plucked  up  from  the  highway,  he  let 
it  fly,  and  so  was  rid  of  the  bauble  which  to  Mother 
Jane's  eyes,  of  course,  was  a  direct  gift  from  the 
heavens  through  which  the  bird  had  flown  before 
lighting  on  her  doorstep." 

Wonderful!  "  I  exclaimed,  almost  overwhelmed 
with    humiliation,     but    preserving   a  brave    front. 
'  What  invention  and  what  audacity! — the  inven 
tion  and  the  audacity  of  a    man   totally   irrespon 
sible  for  his  deeds,  was  it  not  ?  "  I  asked.     "  There 


382  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

is  no  doubt,  is  there,  about  his  being  an  absolute 
maniac? " 

"No,  madam. ' '  What  a  relief  I  felt  at  that  word  ! 
"  Since  we  entrapped  him  yesterday  and  he  found 
himself  fully  discovered,  he  has  lost  all  grip  upon 
himself  and  fills  the  room  we  put  him  in  with  the 
unmistakable  ravings  of  a  madman.  It  was  through 
these  I  learned  the  facts  I  have  just  mentioned." 

I  drew  a  deep  breath.  We  were  standing  in  the 
sight  of  several  men,  and  their  presence  there  seemed 
intolerable.  Unconsciously  I  began  to  walk  away. 
Unconsciously  Mr.  Gryce  followed  me.  At  the  end 
of  several  paces  we  both  stopped.  We  were  no 
longer  visible  to  the  crowd,  and  I  felt  I  could  speak 
the  words  I  had  been  burning  to  say  ever  since  I  saw 
the  true  nature  of  Mr.  Trohrn's  character  exposed. 

'  Mr.  Gryce,"  said  I,  flushing  scarlet — which  I 
here  solemnly  declare  is  something  which  has  not 
happened  to  me  before  in  years,  and  if  I  can  help  it 
shall  never  happen  to  me  again, — "  I  am  interested 
in  what  you  say,  because  yesterday,  at  his  own  gate 
way,  Mr.  Trohm  proposed  to  me,  and " 

You  did  not  accept  him  ?  " 

No.  What  do  you  think  I  am  made  of,  Mr. 
Gryce  ?  I  did  not  accept  him,  but  I  made  the  re 
fusal  a  gentle  one,  and — this  is  not  easy  work,  Mr. 
Gryce,"  I  interrupted  myself  to  say  with  suitable 
grimness — '  the  same  thing  took  place  between  me 
and  Deacon  Spear,  and  to  him  I  gave  a  response 


THE  BIRDS  OF   THE  AIR  383 

such  as  I  thought  his  presumption  warranted.  The 
discrimination  does  not  argue  well  for  my  astute 
ness,  Mr.  Gryce.  You  see,  I  crave  no  credit  that  I 
do  not  deserve.  Perhaps  you  cannot  understand 
that,  but  it  is  a  part  of  my  nature." 

"  Madam,"  said  he,  and  I  must  own  I  thought 
his  conduct  perfect,  "  had  I  not  been  as  completely 
deceived  as  yourself  I  might  find  words  of  criticism 
for  this  possibly  unprofessional  partiality.  But 
when  an  old  hand  like  myself  can  listen  to  the  in 
sinuations  of  a  maniac,  and  repose,  as  I  must  say  I 
did  repose,  more  or  less  confidence  in  the  statements 
he  chose  to  make  me,  and  which  were  true  enough 
as  to  the  facts  he  mentioned,  but  wickedly  false  and 
preposterously  wrong  in  suggestion,  I  can  have  no 
words  of  blame  for  a  woman  who,  whatever  her 
understanding  and  whatever  her  experience,  neces 
sarily  has  seen  less  of  human  nature  and  its  incalcu 
lable  surprises.  As  to  the  more  delicate  matter  you 
have  been  good  enough  to  confide  to  me,  madam,  I 
have  but  one  remark  to  make.  With  such  an  ex 
ample  of  womanhood  suddenly  brought  to  their 
notice  in  such  a  wild  as  this,  how  could  you  expect 
them,  sane  or  insane,  to  do  otherwise  than  they 
did  ?  I  know  many  a  worthy  man  who  would  like 
to  follow  their  example. ' '  And  with  a  bow  that  left 
me  speechless,  Mr.  Gryce  laid  his  hand  on  his  heart 
and  softly  withdrew. 


EPILOGUE 

SOME  STRAY  LEAFLETS  FROM  AN  OLD  DIARY  OF 
ALTHEA  KNOLLYS,  FOUND  BY  ME  IN  THE  PACKET 
LEFT  IN  MY  CHARGE  BY  HER  DAUGHTER  LU- 
CETTA. 

I  NEVER  thought  I  should  do  so  foolish  a  thing 
as  begin  a  diary.  When  in  my  boarding-school 
days  (which  I  am  very  glad  to  be  rid  of)  I  used 
to  see  Meeley  Butterworth  sit  down  every  night  of 
her  life  over  a  little  book  which  she  called  the  re 
pository  of  her  daily  actions,  I  thought  that  if  ever  I 
reached  that  point  of  imbecility  I  would  deserve  to 
have  fewer  lovers  and  more  sense,  just  as  she  so 
frequently  advised  me  to.  And  yet  here  I  am, 
pencil  in  hand,  jotting  down  the  nothings  of  the 
moment,  and  with  every  prospect  of  continuing  to 
do  so  for  two  weeks  at  least.  For  (why  was  I  born 
such  a  chatterbox!)  I  have  seen  my  fate,  and  must 
talk  to  some  one  about  him,  if  only  to  myself,  nature 
never  having  meant  me  to  keep  silence  on  any  living 
topic  that  interests  me. 

Yes,  with  lovers  in  Boston,  lovers  in  New  York, 
and  a  most  determined  suitor  on  the  other  side  of 
our  own  home-walls  in  Peekskill,  I  have  fallen 
victim  to  the  grave  face  and  methodical  ways  of  a 
person  I  need  not  name,  since  he  is  the  only  gentle- 

384 


EPILOGUE  385 

man  in  this  whole  town,  except —  But  I  won't  ex 
cept  anybody.  Charles  Knollys  has  no  peer  here  or 
anywhere,  and  this  I  am  ready  to  declare,  after  only 
one  sight  of  his  face  and  one  look  from  his  eye, 
though  to  no  one  but  you,  my  secret,  non-committal 
confidant — for  to  acknowledge  to  any  human  being 
that  my  admiration  could  be  caught,  or  my  heart 
touched,  by  a  person  who  had  not  sued  two  years 
at  my  feet,  would  be  to  abdicate  an  ascendency  I  am 
so  accustomed  to  I  could  not  see  it  vanish  without 
pain.  Besides,  who  knows  how  I  shall  feel  to 
morrow  ?  Meeley  Butterworth  never  shows  any 
hesitation  in  uttering  her  opinion  either  of  men  or 
things,  but  then  her  opinion  never  changes,  whilst 
mine  is  a  very  thistle-down,  blowing  hither  and 
thither  till  I  cannot  follow  its  wanderings  myself. 
It  is  one  of  my  charms,  certain  fools  say,  but  that  is 
nonsense.  If  my  cheeks  lacked  color  and  my  eyes 
were  without  sparkle,  or  even  if  I  were  two  inches 
taller  instead  of  being  the  tiniest  bit  of  mortal  flesh 
to  be  found  amongst  all  the  young  ladies  of  my  age 
in  our  so-called  society,  I  doubt  if  the  lightness  of 
my  mind  would  meet  with  the  approbation  of  even 
the  warmest  woman-lovers  of  this  time.  As  it  is,  it 
just  passes,  and  sometimes,  as  to-night,  for  instance, 
when  I  can  hardly  see  to  inscribe  these  lines  on  this 
page  for  the  vision  of  two  grave,  if  not  quietly  re 
proving  eyes  which  float  between  it  and  me,  I 
almost  wish  I  had  some  of  Meeley's  responsible 
characteristics,  instead  of  being  the  airiest,  merriest, 
and  most  volatile  being  that  ever  tried  to  laugh 
down  the  grandeur  of  this  dreary  old  house  with  its 
century  of  memories. 

Ah !  that  allusion  has  given  me  something  to  say. 


386  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

This  house.  What  is  there  about  it  except  its  size 
to  make  a  stranger  like  me  look  back  continually 
over  her  shoulder  in  going  down  the  long  halls,  or 
even  when  nestling  comfortably  by  the  great  wood- 
fire  in  the  immense  drawing-room?  /  am  not  one  of 
your  fanciful  ones;  but  I  can  no  more  help  doing 
this,  than  I  can  help  wishing  Judge  Knollys  lived 
in  a  less  roomy  mansion  with  fewer  echoing  corners 
in  its  innumerable  passages.  /  like  brightness  and 
cheer,  at  least  in  my  surroundings.  If  I  must  have 
gloom,  or  a  seriousness  which  some  would  call  gloom, 
let  me  have  it  in  individuals  where  there  is  some 
prospect  of  a  blithe,  careless-hearted  little  midget 
effecting  a  change,  and  not  in  great  towering  walls 
and  endless  floors  which  no  amount  of  sunshine  or 
laughter  could  ever  render  homelike,  or  even  com 
fortable. 

But  there!  If  one  has  the  man,  one  must  have 
the  home,  so  I  had  better  say  no  more  against  the 
home  till  I  am  quite  sure  I  do  not  want  the  man. 
For—  Well,  well,  I  am  not  a  fool,  but  I  did  hear 
something  just  then,  a  something  which  makes  me 
tremble  yet,  though  I  have  spent  five  good  minutes 
trilling  the  gayest  songs  I  know. 

I  think  it  is  very  inconsiderate  of  the  witches  to 
bother  thus  a  harmless  mite  like  myself,  who  only  asks 
for  love,  light,  and  money  enough  to  buy  a  ribbon 
or  a  jewel  when  the  fancy  takes  her,  which  is  not  as 
often  as  my  enemies  declare.  And  now  a  question ! 
Why  are  my  enemies  always  to  be  found  among  the 
girls,  and  among  the  plainest  of  them  too  ?  I  never 
heard  a  man  say  anything  against  me,  though  I 
have  sometimes  surprised  a  look  on  their  faces  (I 
saw  it  to-day)  which  might  signify  reproof  if  it  were 


EPILOGUE  387 

not  accompanied  by  a  smile  showing  anything  but 
displeasure. 

But  this  is  a  digression,  as  Meeley  would  say. 
What  I  want  to  do,  but  which  I  seem  to  find  it  very 
difficult  to  do,  is  to  tell  how  I  came  to  be  here,  and 
what  I  have  seen  since  I  came.  First,  then,  to  be 
very  short  about  the  matter,  I  am  here  because  the 
old  folks — that  is,  my  father  and  Mr.  Knollys,  have 
decided  Charles  and  I  should  know  each  other.  In 
thought,  I  courtesy  to  the  decision  ;  I  think  we  ought 
to  too.  For  while  many  other  men  are  handsomer  or 
better  known,  or  have  more  money,  alas!  than  he,  he 
alone  has  a  way  of  drawing  up  to  one's  side  with  an 
air  that  captivates  the  eye  and  sets  the  heart  trem 
bling,  a  heart,  moreover,  that  never  knew  before  it 
could  tremble,  except  in  the  presence  of  great 
worldly  prosperity  and  beautiful,  beautiful  things. 
So,  as  this  experience  is  new,  I  am  dutifully  obliged 
for  the  excitement  it  gives  me,  and  am  glad  to  be 
here,  awesome  as  the  place  is,  and  destitute  of  any 
such  pleasures  as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  in  the 
gay  cities  where  I  have  hitherto  spent  most  of  my 
time. 

But  there!  I  am  rambling  again.  I  have  come 
to  X.,  as  you  now  see,  for  good  and  sufficient 
reasons,  and  while  this  house  is  one  of  consequence 
and  has  been  the  resort  of  many  notable  people,  it 
is  a  little  lonesome,  our  only  neighbor  being  a  young 
man  who  has  a  fine  enough  appearance,  but  who 
has  already  shown  his  admiration  of  me  so  plainly 
- — of  course  he  was  in  the  road  when  I  drove  up  to 
the  house— that  I  lost  all  interest  in  him  at  once, 
such  a  nonsensical  liking  at  first  sight  being,  as  I 
take  it,  a  tribute  only  to  my  audacious  little  travel- 


388  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

ling  bonnet  and  the  curl  or  two  which  will  fall  out 
on  my  cheek  when  I  move  my  head  about  too 
quickly,  as  I  certainly  could  not  be  blamed  for 
doing,  in  driving  into  a  place  where  I  was  expected 
to  make  myself  happy  for  two  weeks. 

He,  then,  is  out  of  these  chronicles.  When  I  say 
his  name  is  Obadiah  Trohm,  you  will  probably  be 
duly  thankful.  But  he  is  not  as  stiff  and  biblical  as 
his  name  would  lead  you  to  expect.  On  the  con 
trary,  he  is  lithe,  graceful,  and  suave  to  a  point 
which  makes  Charles  Knollys'  judicial  face  a  positive 
relief  to  the  eye  and  such  little  understanding  as  has 
been  accorded  me. 

I  cannot  write  another  word.  It  is  twelve  o'clock, 
and  though  I  have  the  cosiest  room  in  the  house,  all 
chintz  and  decorated  china,  I  find  myself  listening 
and  peering  just  as  I  did  downstairs  in  their  great 
barn  of  a  drawing-room.  I  wonder  if  any  very 
dreadful  things  ever  happened  in  this  house  ?  I  will 
ask  old  Mr.  Knollys  to-morrow,  or — or  Mr.  Charles. 

I  am  sorry  I  was  so  inquisitive;  for  the  stones 
Charles  told  me — I  thought  I  had  better  not  trouble 
the  old  gentleman — have  only  served  to  people  the 
shadows  of  this  rambling  old  house  with  figures  of 
whose  acquaintance  I  am  likely  to  be  more  or  less 
shy.  One  tale  in  particular  gave  me  the  shivers. 
It  was  about  a  mother  and  daughter  who  both  loved 
the  same  man  (it  seems  incredible,  girls  so  seldom 
seeing  with  the  eyes  of  their  mothers),  and  it  was 
the  daughter  who  married  him,  while  the  mother, 
broken-hearted,  fled  from  the  wedding  and  was 
Jriven  up  to  the  great  door,  here,  in  a  coach,  dead. 
They  say  that  the  coach  still  travels  the  road  just 


EPILOGUE  389 

before  some  calamity  to  the  family, — a  phantom 
coach  which  floats  along  in  shadow,  turning  the  air 
about  it  to  mist  that  chills  the  marrow  in  the  bones 
of  the  unfortunate  who  sees  it.  I  am  going  to  see 
it  myself  some  day,  the  real  coach,  I  mean,  in  which 
this  tragic  event  took  place.  It  is  still  in  the  stable, 
Charles  tells  me.  I  wonder  if  I  will  have  the  cour 
age  to  sit  where  that  poor  devoted  mother  breathed 
out  her  miserable  existence.  I  shall  endeavor  to  do 
so  if  only  to  defy  the  fate  which  seems  to  be  closing 
in  upon  me. 

Charles  is  an  able  lawyer,  but  his  argument  in 
favor  of  close  bonnets  versus  bewitching  little  pokes 
with  a  rose  or  two  in  front,  was  very  weak,  I 
thought,  to-day.  He  seemed  to  think  so  himself, 
after  a  while;  for  when,  as  the  only  means  of  con 
vincing  him  of  the  weakness  of  the  cause  he  was 
advocating,  I  ran  up-stairs  and  put  on  a  poke  similar 
to  the  aforesaid,  he  retracted  at  once  and  let  the 
case  go  by  default.  For  which  I,  and  the  poke, 
made  suitable  acknowledgments,  to  the  great  amuse 
ment  of  papa  Knollys,  who  was  on  my  side  from  the 
first. 

Not  much  going  on  to-day.  Yet  I  have  never 
felt  merrier.  Oh,  ye  hideous,  bare  old  walls!  Won't 
I  make  you  ring  if 

I  won't  have  it!  I  won't  have  that  smooth,  per 
sistent  hypocrite  pushing  his  way  into  my  presence, 
when  my  whole  heart  and  attention  belong  to  a  man 
who  would  love  me  if  he  only  could  get  his  own 
leave  to  do  so.  Obadiah  Trohm  has  been  here  to 
day,  on  one  pretext  or  another,  three  times.  Once 
he  came  to  bring  some  very  choice  apples — as  if  I 


3QO  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

cared  for  apples!  The  second  time  he  had  a  ques 
tion  of  great  importance,  no  doubt,  to  put  to 
Charles,  and  as  Charles  was  in  my  company,  the 
whole  interview  lasted,  let  us  say,  a  good  half-hour 
at  least.  The  third  time  he  came,  it  was  to  see  me, 
which,  as  it  was  now  evening,  meant  talk,  talk,  talk 
in  the  great  drawing-room,  with  just  a  song  inter 
polated  now  and  then,  instead  of  a  cosy  chat  in  the 
window-seat  of  the  pretty  Flower  Parlor,  with  only 
one  pair  of  ears  to  please  and  one  pair  of  eyes  to 
watch.  Master  Trohm  was  intrusive,  and,  if  no  one 
felt  it  but  myself,  it  is  because  Charles  Knollys  has 
set  himself  up  an  ideal  of  womanhood  to  which  I 
am  a  contradiction.  But  that  will  not  affect  the 
end.  A  woman  may  be  such  a  contradiction  and 
yet  win,  if  her  heart  is  in  the  struggle  and  she  has, 
besides,  a  certain  individuality  of  her  own  which 
appeals  to  the  eye  and  heart  if  not  to  the  under 
standing.  I  do  not  despair  of  seeing  Charles  Knollys' 
forehead  taking  a  very  deep  frown  at  sight  of  his 
handsome  and  most  attentive  neighbor.  Heigho ! 
why  don't  I  answer  Meeley  Butterworth's  last  letter? 
Am  I  ashamed  to  tell  her  that  I  have  to  limit  my 
effusion  to  just  four  pages  because  I  have  com 
menced  a  diary  ? 

I  declare  I  begin  to  regard  it  a  misfortune  to  have 
dimples.  I  never  have  regarded  it  so  before  when 
I  have  seen  man  after  man  succumb  to  them,  but 
now  they  have  become  my  bane,  for  they  attract 
two  admirers,  just  at  the  time  they  should  attract 
but  one,  and  it  is  upon  the  wrong  man  they  flash 
the  oftenest ;  why,  I  leave  it  to  all  true  lovers  to  ex 
plain.  As  a  consequence,  Master  Trohm  is  begin- 


EPILOGUE  391 

ning  to  assume  an  air  of  superiority,  and  Charles, 
who  may  not  believe  in  dimples,  but  who  on  that 
very  account,  perhaps,  seems  to  be  always  on  the 
lookout  for  them,  shrinks  more  or  less  into  the 
background,  as  is  not  becoming  in  a  man  with  so 
many  claims  to  respect,  if  not  to  love.  /  want  to 
feel  that  each  one  of  these  precious  fourteen  days 
contains  all  that  it  can  of  delight  and  satisfaction, 
and  how  can  I  when  Obadiah — oh,  the  charming  and 
romantic  name  !  —  holds  my  crewels,  instead  of 
Charles,  and  whispers  words  which,  coming  from 
other  lips,  would  do  more  than  waken  my  dimples! 
But  if  I  must  have  a  suitor,  just  when  a  suitor  is 
not  wanted,  let  me  at  least  make  him  useful. 
Charles  shall  read  his  own  heart  in  this  man's 
passion. 

I  don't  know  why,  but  I  have  taken  a  dislike  to 
the  Flower  Parlor.  It  now  vies  with  the  great 
drawing-room  in  my  disregard.  Yesterday,  in 
crossing  it,  I  felt  a  chill,  so  sudden  and  so  penetrat 
ing,  that  I  irresistibly  thought  of  the  old  saying, 

Some  one  is  walking  over  my  grave. ' '  My  grave! 
where  lies  it,  and  why  should  I  feel  the  shudder  of 
it  now  ?  Am  I  destined  to  an  early  death  ?  The 
bounding  life  in  my  veins  says  no.  But  I  never 
again  shall  like  that  room.  It  has  made  me  think. 

I  have  not  only  sat  in  the  old  coach,  but  I  had 
(let  me  drop  the  words  slowly,  they  are  so  precious) 
I — I  have  had — a  kiss — given  me  there.  Charles 
gave  me  this  kiss;  he  could  not  help  it.  I  was  sit 
ting  on  the  seat  in  front,  in  a  sort  of  mock  mirth  he 
was  endeavoring  to  frown  upon,  when  suddenly  I 


392  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

glanced  up  and  our  eyes  met,  and—  He  says  it  was 
the  sauciness  of  my  dimples  (oh,  those  old  dimples! 
they  seem  to  have  stood  me  in  good  stead  after  all) ; 
but  I  say  it  was  my  sincere  affection  which  drew 
him,  for  he  stooped  like  a  man  forgetful  of  every 
thing  in  the  whole  wide  v/orld  but  the  little  trem 
bling,  panting  being  before  him,  and  gave  me  one  of 
those  caresses  which  seals  a  woman's  fate  forever, 
and  made  me,  the  feather-brained  and  thoughtless 
coquette,  a  slave  to  this  large-minded  and  true- 
hearted  man  for  all  my  life  hereafter. 

Why  I  should  be  so  happy  over  this  event  is  be 
yond  my  understanding.  That  he  should  be  in  the 
seventh  heaven  of  delight  is  only  to  be  expected, 
but  that  I  should  find  myself  tripping  through  this 
gloomy  old  house  like  one  treading  on  air  is  a 
mystery,  to  the  elucidation  of  which  I  can  only 
give  my  dimples.  My  reason  can  make  nothing  out 
of  it.  I,  who  thought  of  nothing  short  of  a  grand 
establishment  in  Boston,  money,  servants,  and  a 
husband  who  would  love  me  blindly  whatever  my 
faults,  have  given  my  troth — you  will  say  my  lips, 
but  the  one  means  the  other — to  a  man  who  will 
never  be  known  outside  of  his  own  county,  never  be 
rich,  never  be'blind  even,  for  he  frowns  upon  me  as 
often  as  he  smiles,  and,  worst  of  all,  who  lives  in  a 
house  so  vast  and  so  full  of  tragic  suggestion  that 
it  might  well  awaken  doleful  anticipations  in  much 
more  serious-minded  persons  than  myself. 

And  yet  I  am  happy,  so  happy  that  I  have  even 
attempted  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  grim  old 
portraits  and  weak  pastels  which  line  the  walls  of 
many  of  these  bedrooms.  Old  Mr.  Knollys  caught 
me  courtesying  just  now  before  one  of  these  ancestral 


EPILOGUE  393 

beauties,  whose  face  seemed  to  hold  a  faint  prophecy 
of  my  own,  and  perceiving  by  my  blushes  that  this 
was  something  more  than  a  mere  childish  freak  on 
my  part,  he  chucked  me  under  the  chin  and  laugh 
ingly  asked,  how  long  it  was  likely  to  be  before  he 
might  have  the  honor  of  adding  my  pretty  face  to 
the  collection.  Which  should  have  made  rne  indig 
nant,  only  I  am  not  in  an  indignant  mood  just  now. 

Why  have  I  been  so  foolish  ?  Why  did  I  not  let 
my  over-fond  neighbor  know  from  the  beginning 
that  I  detested  him,  instead  of—  But  what  have  I 
done  anyway  ?  A  smile,  a  nod,  a  laughing  word 
mean  nothing.  When  one  has  eyes  which  persist 
in  dancing  in  spite  of  one's  every  effort  to  keep 
them  demure,  men  who  become  fools  are  apt  to 
call  one  a  coquette,  when  a  little  good  sense  would 
teach  them  that  the  woman  who  smiles  always  has 
some  other  way  of  showing  her  regard  to  the  -man 
she  really  favors.  I  could  not  help  being  on  merry 
terms  with  Mr.  Trohm,  if  only  to  hide  the  effect 
another's  presence  has  on  me.  But  he  thinks 
otherwise,  and  to-day  I  had  ample  reason  for  seeing 
why  his  good  looks  and  easy  manners  have  invari 
ably  awakened  distrust  in  me  rather  than  admiration. 
Master  Trohm  is  vindictive,  and  I  should  be  afraid 
of  him,  if  I  had  not  observed  in  him  the  presence  of 
another  passion  which  will  soon  engross  all  his  atten 
tion  and  make  him  forget  me  as  soon  as  ever  I  be 
come  Charles'  wife.  Money  is  his  idol,  and  as 
fortune  seems  to  favor  him,  he  will  soon  be  happy 
in  the  mere  pleasure  of  accumulation.  But  this  is 
not  relating  what  happened  to-day. 

We    were    walking    in    the    shrubbery    (by    we    I 


394  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

naturally  mean  Charles  and  myself),  and  he  was  say 
ing  things  which  made  me  at  the  same  time  happy 
and  a  bit  serious,  when  I  suddenly  felt  myself  under 
the  spell  of  some  baleful  influence  that  filled  me  with 
a  dismay  I  could  neither  understand  nor  escape 
from. 

As  this  could  not  proceed  from  Charles,  I  turned 
to  look  about  me,  when  I  encountered  the  eyes  of 
Obadiah  Trohm,  who  was  leaning  on  the  fence 
separating  his  grounds  from  those  of  Mr.  Knollys, 
looking  directly  at  us.  If  I  flinched  at  this  surveil 
lance,  it  was  but  the  natural  expression  of  my 
indignation.  His  face  wore  a  look  calculated  to 
frighten  any  one,  and  though  he  did  not  respond  to 
the  gesture  I  made  him,  I  felt  that  my  only  chance 
of  escaping  a  scene  was  to  induce  Charles  to  leave 
me  before  he  should  see  what  I  saw  in  the  lowering 
countenance  of  his  intrusive  neighbor.  As  the  situ 
ation  demanded  self-possession  and  the  exercise  of  a 
ready  wit,  and  as  these  are  qualities  in  which  I  am 
not  altogether  deficient,  I  succeeded  in  carrying  out 
my  intention  sooner  even  than  I  expected.  Charles 
hurried  from  my  presence  at  the  first  word,  and  pro 
ceeded  towards  the  house  without  seeing  Trohm, 
and  I,  quivering  with  dread,  turned  towards  the 
man  whom  I  felt,  rather  than  saw,  approaching  me. 

He  met  me  with  a  look  I  shall  never  forget.  I 
have  had  lovers — too  many  of  them, — and  this  is  not 
the  first  man  I  have  been  compelled  to  meet  with 
rebuff  and  disdain,  but  never  in  the  whole  course  of 
my  none  too  extended  existence  have  I  been  con 
fronted  by  such  passion  or  overwhelmed  with  such 
bitter  recrimination.  He  seemed  like  a  man  beside 
himself,  yet  he  was  quiet,  too  quiet,  and  while  his 


EPILOGUE  395 

voice  did  not  rise  above  a  whisper,  and  he  approached 
no  nearer  than  the  demands  of  courtesy  required,  he 
produced  so  terrifying  an  effect  upon  me  that  I 
longed  to  cry  for  help,  and  would  have  done  so,  but 
that  my  throat  closed  with  fright,  and  I  could  only 
gurgle  forth  a  remonstrance,  too  faint  even  for  him 
to  hear. 

"  You  have  played  with  a  man's  best  feelings," 
he  said.  "  You  have  led  me  to  believe  that  I  had 
only  to  speak  to  have  you  for  my  own.  Are  you 
simply  foolish,  or  are  you  wicked  ?  Did  you  care 
for  me  at  all,  or  was  it  only  your  wish  to  increase 
the  number  of  men  in  your  train?  This  one" 
(here  his  hand  pointed  quiveringly  towards  the 
house)  "  has  enjoyed  a  happiness  denied  me.  His 
hand  has  touched  yours,  his  lips — "  Here  his  words 
became  almost  unintelligible  till  his  purpose  gave 
him  strength,  and  he  cried:  "  But  notwithstanding 
this,  notwithstanding  any  vows  you  may  have  ex 
changed,  I  have  claims  upon  you  that  I  will  not 
yield.  I  who  have  loved  no  woman  before  you, 
will  have  such  a  hand  in  your  fate  that  you  will 
never  be  able  to  separate  yourself  from  the  influence 
I  shall  exert  over  you.  I  will  not  intrude  between 
you  and  your  lover;  I  will  not  affect  dislike  or  dis 
turb  your  outer  life  with  any  vain  display  of  my 
hatred  or  my  passion,  but  I  will  work  upon  your 
secret  thoughts,  and  create  a  slowly  increasing  dread 
in  the  inner  sanctuary  of  your  heart  till  you  wish 
you  had  called  up  the  deadliest  of  serpents  in  your 
pathway  rather  than  the  latent  fury  of  Obadiah 
Trohm.  You  are  a  girl  now;  when  you  are  married 
and  become  a  mother,  you  will  understand  me.  For 
the  present  I  leave  you.  The  shadow  of  this  old 


396  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

house  which  has  never  seen  much  happiness  within 
it  will  soon  rest  upon  your  thoughtless  head.  What 
that  will  not  do,  your  own  inherent  weakness  will. 
The  woman  who  trifles  with  a  strong  man's  heart 
has  a  flaw  in  lier  nature  which  will  work  out  her 
own  destruction  in  time.  I  can  afford  to  let  you 
enjoy  your  prospective  honeymoon  in  peace.  After 
wards —  He  cast  a  threatening  look  towards  the 
decaying  structure  behind  me,  and  was  silent.  But 
that  silence  did  not  unloose  my  tongue.  I  was 
absolutely  speechless. 

'  Ten  brides  have  crossed  yonder  threshold,"  he 
presently  went  on  in  a  low  musing  tone  freighted 
with  horrible  fatality.  "  One — and  she  was  the  girl 
whose  mother  was  driven  up  to  these  doors  dead- 
lived  to  ta)<e  her  grandchildren  on  her  knees.  The 
rest  died  early,  and  most  of  them  unhappily.  Oh,  I 
have  studied  the  traditions  of  your  future  home ! 
You  will  live,  but  of  all  the  brides  who  have 
triumphed  in  the  honorable  name  of  Knollys,  you 
will  lead  the  saddest  life  and  meet  the  gloomiest 
end  notwithstanding  you  stand  before  me  now, 
with  loose  locks  flying  in  the  wind,  and  a  heart  so 
gay  that  even  my  despair  can  barely  pale  the  roses 
on  your  cheek." 

This  was  the  raving  of  a  madman.  I  recognized 
it  as  such,  and  took  a  little  heart.  How  could  he 
see  into  my  future  ?  How  could  he  prophesy  evil  to 
one  over  whom  he  will  have  no  control  ?  to  one 
watched  over  and  beloved  by  a  man  like  Charles  ? 
He  is  a  dreamer,  a  fanatic.  His  talk  about  the  flaw 
in  my  nature  is  nonsense,  and  as  for  the  fate  lower 
ing  over  my  head,  in  the  shadows  falling  from  the 
toppling  old  house  in  which  I  am  likely  to  take  up 


EPILOGUE  397 

my  abode — that  is  only  frenzy,  and  I  would  be  un 
worthy  of  happiness  to  heed  it.  As  I  realized  this, 
my  indignation  grew,  and,  uttering  a  few  con 
temptuous  words,  I  was  hurrying  away  when  he 
stopped  me  with  a  final  warning. 

"  Wait!  "  he  said,  "  women  like  you  cannot  keep 
either  their  joys  or  their  miseries  to  themselves. 
But  I  advise  you  not  to  take  Charles  Knollys  into 
your  confidence.  If  you  do,  a  duel  will  follow,  and 
if  I  have  not  the  legal  acumen  of  your  intended,  I 
have  an  eye  and  a  hand  before  which  he  must  fall,  if 
our  passions  come  to  an  issue.  So  beware!  never 
while  you  live  betray  what  has  passed  between  us  at 
this  interview,  unless  the  weariness  of  a  misplaced 
affection  should  come  to  you,  and  with  it  the  de 
sire  to  be  rid  of  your  husband." 

A  frightful  threat  which,  unfortunately  perhaps, 
has  sealed  my  lips.  Oh,  why  should  such  monsters 
live! 

I  have  been  all  through  the  house  to-day  with  old 
Mr.  Knollys.  Every  room  was  opened  for  my  in 
spection,  and  I  was  bidden  to  choose  which  should 
be  refurnished  for  my  benefit.  It  was  a  gruesome 
trip,  from  which  I  have  returned  to  my  own  little 
nook  of  chintz  as  to  a  refuge.  Great  rooms  which 
for  years  have  been  the  abode  of  spiders,  are  not 
much  to  my  liking,  but  I  chose  out  two  .which  at 
least  have  fireplaces  in  them,  and  these  are  to  be 
made  as  cheerful  as  circumstances  will  permit.  I 
hope  when  I  again  see  them,  it  will  not  be  by  the 
light  of  a  waning  November  afternoon,  when  the 
few  leaves  still  left  to  flutter  from  the  trees  blow, 
soggy  and  wet,  against  the  panes  of  the  solitary 


398  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

windows,  or  lie  in  sodden  masses  at  the  foot  of  the 
bare  trunks,  which  cluster  so  thickly  on  the  lawn  as 
to  hide  all  view  of  the  highroad.  I  was  meant  for 
laughter  and  joy,  flashing  lights,  and  the  splendors 
of  ballrooms.  Why  have  I  chosen,  then,  to  give 
up  the  great  world  and  settle  down  in  this  grimmest 
of  grim  old  houses  in  a  none  too  lively  village  ?  I 
think  it  is  because  I  love  Charles  Knollys,  and  so, 
no  matter  how  my  heart  sinks  in  the  dim  shadows 
that  haunt  every  spot  I  stray  into,  I  will  be  merry, 
will  think  of  Charles  instead  of  myself,  and  so  live 
down  the  unhappy  prophecies  uttered  by  the  wretch 
who,  with  his  venomous  words,  has  robbed  the 
future  of  whatever  charm  my  love  was  likely  to  cast 
upon  it.  The  fact  that  this  man  left  the  town  to 
day  for  a  lengthy  trip  abroad  should  raise  my  spirits 
more  than  it  has.  If  we  were  going  now,  Charles 
and  I—  But  why  dream  of  a  Paradise  whose  doors 
remain  closed  to  you  ?  It  is  here  our  honeymoon 
is  destined  to  be  passed ;  within  these  walls  and  in 
sight  of  the  bare  boughs  rattling  at  this  moment 
against  the  panes. 

I  made  a  misstatement  when  I  said  that  I  had 
gone  into  all  the  rooms  of  the  house  this  afternoon. 
/  did  not  enter  the  Floiver  Parlor. 

I  had  been  married  a  month  and  had,  as  I  thought, 
no  further  use  for  this  foolish  diary.  So  one  eve 
ning  when  Charles  was  away,  I  attempted  to  burn 
it. 

But  when  I  had  flung  myself  down  before  the 
blazing  logs  of  my  bedroom  fire  (I  was  then  young 
enough  to  love  to  crouch  for  hours  on  the  rug  in  my 
lonely  room,  seeking  for  all  I  delighted  in  and 


EPILOGUE-  399 

longed  for  in  the  glowing  embers),  some  instinct,  or 
was  it  a  premonition  ?  made  me  withhold  from 
destruction  a  record  which  coming  events  might 
make  worthy  of  preservation.  That  was  five  years 
ago,  and  to-day  I  have  reopened  the  secret  drawer 
in  which  this  simple  book  has  so  long  lain  undis 
turbed,  and  am  once  more  penning  lines  destined 
perhaps  to  pass  into  oblivion  together  with  the 
others.  Why  ?  I  do  not  know.  There  is  no 
change  in  my  married  life.  I  have  no  trouble,  no 
anxiety,  no  reason  for  dread  ;  yet —  Well, well,  some 
women  are  made  for  the  simple  round  of  domestic 
duties,  and  others  are  as  out  of  place  in  the  nursery 
and  kitchen  as  butterflies  in  a  granary.  I  want  just 
the  things  Charles  cannot  give  me.  I  have  home, 
love,  children,  all  that  some  women  most  crave,  and 
while  I  idolize  my  husband  and  know  of  nothing 
sweeter  than  my  babies,  I  yet  have  spells  of  such 
wretched  weariness,  that  it  would  be  a  relief  to  me 
to  be  a  little  less  comfortable  if  only  I  might  enjoy 
a  more  brilliant  existence.  But  Charles  is  not  rich; 
sometimes  I  think  he  is  poor,  and  however  much  I 
may  desire  change,  I  cannot  have  it.  Heigho  !  and, 
what  is  worse,  I  have  n't  had  a  new  dress  in  a  year; 
I  who  so  love  dress,  and  become  it  so  well !  Why, 
if  it  is  my  lot  to  go  shabby,  and  tie  up  my  dancing 
ringlets  with  faded  ribbons,  was  I  made  with  the 
figure  of  a  fairy  and  given  a  temperament  which, 
without  any  effort  on  my  part,  makes  me,  diminu 
tive  as  I  am,  the  centre  of  every  group  I  enter  ?  If 
I  were  plain,  or  shy,  or  even  self-contained,  I  might 
be  happy  here,  but  now—  There  !  there  !  I  will  go 
kiss  little  William,  and  lay  Loreen's  baby  arm  about 
my  neck  and  see  if  the  wicked  demons  will  fly  away. 


40O  LOST  MAN'S  LAN& 

Charles  is  too  busy  for  me  to  intrude  upon  him  in 
that  horrid  Flower  Parlor. 

I  was  never  superstitious  till  I  entered  this  house; 
but  now  I  believe  in  every  sort  of  thing  a  sane 
woman  should  not.  Yesterday,  after  a  neglect  of 
five  years,  I  brought  out  my  diary.  To-day  I  have 
to  record  in  it  that  there  was  a  reason  for  my  doing  so. 
Obadiah  Trohm  has  returned  home.  I  saw  him  this 
morning  leaning  over  his  fence  in  the  same  place  and 
in  very  much  the  same  attitude  as  on  that  day  when 
he  frightened  me  so,  a  month  before  my  wedding. 

But  he  did  not  frighten  me  to-day.  He  merely 
looked  at  me  very  sharply  and  with  a  less  offensive 
admiration  than  in  the  early  days  of  our  first  ac- 

?uaintance.  At  which  I  made  him  my  best  courtesy, 
was  not  going  to  remind  him  of  the  past  in  our 
new  relations,  and  he,  thankful  perhaps  for  this, 
took  off  his  hat  with  a  smile  I  am  trying  even  yet  to 
explain  to  myself.  Then  we  began  to  talk.  He 
had  travelled  everywhere  and  I  had  been  nowhere; 
he  wore  the  dress  and  displayed  the  manners  of  the 
great  world,  while  I  had  only  a  hungry  desire  to  do 
the  same.  As  for  fashion,  I  needed  all  my  beauty 
and  the  fading  sparkle  of  my  old  animation  to 
enable  me  to  hold  up  my  head  before  him. 

But  as  for  liking  him,  I  did  not.  I  could  admire 
his  appearance,  but  he  himself  attracted  me  no  more 
than  when  he  had  words  of  angry  fury  on  his  tongue. 
He  is  a  gentleman,  and  one  who  has  seen  the  world, 
but  in  other  ways  he  is  no  more  to  be  compared 
with  my  Charles  than  his  pert  new  house,  built  in 
his  absence,  with  the  grand  old  structure  with  whose 
fatality  he  once  threatened  me. 


EPILOGUE  401 

I  do  not  think  he  wants  to  threaten  me  with  dis 
aster  now.  Time  closes  such  wounds  as  his  very 
effectually.  I  wish  we  had  some  of  his  money. 

I  have  always  heard  that  the  wives  of  the  Knollys, 
whatever  their  misfortune,  have  always  loved  their 
husbands.  I  do  not  think  I  am  any  exception  to 
the  rule.  When  Charles  has  leisure  to  give  me  an 
hour  from  his  musty  old  books,  the  place  here  seems 
lively  enough,  and  the  children's  voices  do  not 
sound  so  shrill.  But  these  hours  are  so  infrequent. 
If  it  were  not  for  Mr.  Trohm's  journal  (Did  I  mention 
that  he  had  lent  me  a  journal  of  his  travels?)  I  should 
often  eat  my  heart  out  with  loneliness.  I  am  be 
ginning  to  like  the  man  better  as  I  follow  him  from 
city  to  city  of  the  old  world.  If  he  had  ever  men 
tioned  me  in  its  pages,  I  would  not  read  another 
line  in  it,  but  he  seems  to  have  expended  both  his 
love  and  spite  when  he  bade  me  farewell  in  the  gar 
den  underlying  these  bleak  old  walls. 

I  am  becoming  as  well  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Trohm's  handwriting  as  with  my  own.  I  read  and 
read  and  read  in  his  journal,  and  only  stop  when  the 
dreaded  midnight  hour  comes  with  its  ghostly  sug 
gestions  and  the  unaccountable  noises  which  make 
this  old  dwelling  so  uncanny.  Charles  often  finds 
me  curled  up  over  this  book,  and  when  he  does  he 
sighs.  Why  ? 

I  have  been  teaching  Loreen  to  dance.  Oh,  how 
merry  it  has  made  me !  I  think  I  will  be  happier 
now.  We  have  the  large  upper  hall  to  take  steps 
in,  and  when  she  makes  a  misstep  we  laugh,  and 


402  LOST  MAN'S  LANE 

that  is  a  good  sound  to  hear  in  this  old  place.  If  I 
could  only  have  a  little  money  to  buy  her  a  fresh 
frock  and  some  ribbons,  I  would  feel  perfectly 
satisfied ;  but  I  do  believe  Charles  is  getting  poorer 
and  poorer  every  day ;  the  place  costs  so  much  to 
keep  up,  he  says,  and  when  his  father  died  there 
were  debts  to  be  paid  which  leaves  us,  his  innocent 
inheritors,  very  straitened.  Master  Trohm  has 
no  such  difficulties.  He  has  money  enough.  But 
I  don't  like  the  man  for  all  that,  polite  as  he  is  to 
us  all.  He  seems  to  quite  adore  Loreen,  and  as  to 
William,  he  pets  him  till  I  feel  almost  uncomfort 
able  at  times. 

What  shall  I  do  ?  I  am  invited  to  New  York,  /, 
and  Charles  says  I  may  go,  too — only  I  have  nothing 
to  wear.  Oh,  for  some  money!  a  little  money!  it  is 
my  right  to  have  some  money ;  but  Charles  tells  me 
he  can  only  spare  enough  to  pay  my  expenses,  that 
my  Sunday  frock  looks  very  well,  and  that,  even  if  it 
did  not,  I  am  pretty  enough  to  do  without  fine 
clothes,-  and  other  nonsense  like  that, — sweet 
enough,  but  totally  without  point,  in  fact.  If  I  am 
pretty,  all  the  more  I  need  a  little  finery  to  set  me  off, 
and,  besides,  to  go  to  New  York  without  money — 
why,  I  should  be  perfectly  miserable.  Charles  himself 
ought  to  realize  this,  and  be  willing  to  sell  his  old 
books  before  he  would  let  me  go  into  this  whirl  of 
temptation  without  a  dollar  to  spend.  As  he  don't, 
I  must  devise  some  plan  of  my  own  for  obtaining  a 
little  money,  for  I  won't  give  up  my  trip — the  first 
offered  me  since  I  was  married, — and  neither  will  I 
go  away  and  come  back  without  a  gift  for  my  two 
girls,  who  have  grown  to  womanhood  without  a 


EPILOGUE  403 

jewel  to  adorn  them  or  a  silk  dress  to  make  them 
look  like  gentlemen's  children.  But  how  get  money 
without  Charles  knowing  it?  Mr.  Trohm  is  such  a 
good  friend,  he  might  lend  me  a  little,  but  I  don't 
know  how  to  ask  him  without  recalling  to  his  mind 
certain  words  long  since  forgotten  by  him  perhaps, 
but  never  to  be  forgotten  by  me,  feather-brained  as 
many  people  think  me.  Is  there  any  one  else  ? 

I  wonder  if  some  things  are  as  wicked  as  people 
say  they  are.  I — 

Here  the  diary  breaks  off  abruptly.  But  we  know 
what  followed.  The  forgery,  the  discovery  of  it  by 
her  suave  but  secret  enemy,  his  unnatural  revenge, 
and  the  never-dying  enmity  which  led  to  the  tragic 
events  it  has  been  my  unhappy  fortune  to  relate  at 
such  length.  Poor  Althea!  with  thy  name  I  write 
finis  to  these  pages.  May  the  dust  lie  lightly  on 
thy  breast  under  the  shadow  of  the  Flower  Parlor, 
through  which  thy  footsteps  passed  with  such  dread 
in  the  old  days  of  thy  youthful  beauty  and  innocence ! 

THE    END 


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AUTO  DISC 

OCT  0  9.  1992 

SENT  ON  ILL 

SEP  301999 

U.C.BERKELEY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


